Let not talent fad away
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: January 25, 2012 -

The statistics is mindboggling, hugely satisfying and our heart swells with immense pride at this tremendous achievement.

In the last 27 years, Manipur has produced nearly 10,000 sportspersons who have made a name for themselves in national and international competitions.

Looked at every angle, this is a tremendous achievement, considering the population of the state which is comparable to a district of a bigger state and the lack of sporting infrastructure some years back.

At present, Manipur boosts of facilities for many sporting events after the state hosted the 6th National Games where it emerged the overall champion.

The success achieved in this particular edition of National Games and the many sporting infrastructure which came up in its aftermath gave a further fillip to sports in the state.

Even before this, a sporting culture had started taking root in the state.

Many young boys and girls, especially from the rural areas, had started looking at sports as a gateway to name and fame as also a career option.

But achieving success in sporting arena, beating fellow competitors with the same capability and thirst for winning, is no easy task.

This calls for high level of discipline, dedication and willingness to put in long hours of hard work.

And we found time and again that our sportspersons do not lag behind anyone in all these.

Driven by a strong desire to achieve success in their chosen event, they are willing to put in hours and hours of practice, pushing their body to limits and honing their skill.

Such dedication is rarely found among other sections of our society.

In this land of ours where everyone is looking for shortcuts in every sphere of life and in every profession, our sportsperson stand out as a rare exception.

For in sports you cannot fake, cheat or bribe your way to success, what ever you achieve on the sporting field is the result of years of training and hard work.

Manipur has been doing exceptionally well in certain sports, like boxing, football, both men and women, women hockey, taekwondo, archery, weightlifting to name a few.

While women hockey though not the best in the country has been doing consistent well over the years with players from the state finding representation in the Indian team, the men's hockey has not been up to the mark for some time.

After the glorious era of Neelkamal, Tiken and Thoiba, there has been little to cheer in men's hockey front till some years back but the situation is changing for the better.

It is immensely pleasing to see two young hockey players from the state, Kangujam Chinglensana Singh and Kothajit make their International debut as part of the Indian team in the test series against South Africa.

But our Sports department and the bodies in charge of hockey has very little to do with their success as both of them trained outside the state to come up to this level.

In fact the two players talked of lack of proper guidance and training as also competitive tournaments to showcase their skill.

This is a sad commentary on how this enchanting game is being run in this state and calls for putting in place immediate remedial measures.

The fact that these two players have made it to the Indian eleven shows there is no lack of talent even today in men's hockey.

What is lacking is the support system to nurture these talents.

Let all these hidden talents bloom and not fad away for lack of efforts from the sports department and the concern bodies running the game of hockey in the state.