Nemcha inaugurates Ultimate Frisbee Championship
Source: Chronicle News Service
Kangpokpi, February 11 2023:
Industries minister Nemcha Kipgen inaugurated the first-ever state level Ultimate Frisbee Championship at Brig M Thomas Ground here on Saturday.
Ultimate Frisbee is a unique game invented and popularised in high schools and universities in the United States in the 1960s, and later spread to Europe in the early 1980s.Ultimate is a team sport which mixes elements of football, basketball and rugby, substituting the ball with, a flying disc (Frisbee) and the referee with the spirit of the game.
Apart from Southern India and Assam in the North East, it is the first-ever Ultimate Frisbee launched in the state and the entire northeast states.
Addressing the gathering, minister Nemcha Kipgen said: "I feel extremely proud that the first-ever state-level Ultimate Frisbee Championship is being held in my district with the aim to empower women just few days ahead of the G20 Summit which also promote women empowerment".
The minister also thanked Hejang Misao of InSIDE North East and Peter Rangnamei of MANEDA, two NGOs in Kangpokpi and Senapati, for introducing such a unique game and organising the first-ever Ultimate Frisbee Championship in the state in Kangpokpi district.
She also conveyed warm greeting to the four Flying Rabbits coaches from Belgium who trained young tribal girls in Kangpokpi and Senapati the Ultimate Frisbee game.
The minister said that Manipur may be a tiny state but it is recognised as a powerhouse of sports in India.
Moreover, introduction of Ultimate Frisbee will soon provide the opportunity for talented Manipuri youths in bringing more fame and laurels to the state through the new game.
The Championship was jointly organised by InSIDE North East and MANEDA with the support of Terre Des Homme, National Foundation for India (NFI), and the European Union.
According to InSIDE North East director Hejang Misao, the inaugural edition of the championship is being held for the girls in sync with the spirit for the empowerment of women of Manipur.
It is worth mentioning that Ultimate Frisbee would be introduced in the next Olympic Games.
As part of the inauguration ceremony of the Championship, Ultimate Frisbee matches between Saikul Ultimate Frisbee Club and Senapati Ultimate Frisbee Club, and Kangpokpi Ultimate Frisbee Club versus Noney Ultimate Frisbee Club were played with Saikul defeating Senapati 6-2, and Kangpokpi overcoming Noney 5-2 .