Yaoshang Sports Fest: A platform for sports devt from grassroots
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, March 25, 2013: With the falling leaves of the withered trees casting a mood of evergreen happiness on the eve of spring season, Yaoshang festival has come bringing with it the mood of enjoyment and merrymaking.

Five days filled with happiness and joyous moments, the festival once again bring a ray of pleasant hopes in the mind of the grief stricken state casting aside the shadow of gloominess.

Amidst these pleasant moods, what people of the state are waiting for is the joy and spirit of sports which slowly is replacing the pre-dominant culture of playing with colours, spending leisure time and begging for money by blocking the roads.

Efforts to change the Yaoshang festival into a whole episode of sporting festival began as early as 1950 AD.

Gradually, the whole scene of spending leisure time, playing with colours and begging for money has changed now.

There is hardly any village or locality today where Yaoshang festival is observed without any sporting event.

With the changing times, Yaoshang Sports has become an inseparable part of the Manipuri society.

Today, it is playing an important multifaceted role in providing a platform for development in the grassroots level.

In the field of games and sports, the Yaoshang sports helps in creating the desire to pursue a career in sports.

Not only has it helped in developing modern sports, it also helps in preserving the losing traditional sports of Manipur.

Right from the grassroots level, it assists in identifying the talent of the children who would bring fames and laurels to the state in future.

With some success in the Yaoshang Sports, many are inspired in undergoing training for a successful career in sports.

It helps in moulding a good behaviour among the future pillar with the spirit of sportsmanship.

Besides, it also helps in creating the sense of oneness among the people of the society thus forming a foundation of unity and universal brotherhood.

Inter-community and inter-locality participation in the Yaoshang Sports also increase the bonding relationship among the communities and localities.

On the other hand, organising such sports festival in the local level also provides the youths the opportunity to have a taste of organisational knowledge and create the desire to participate in social works.

Besides, it helps the children in socialising thus creating a healthy and prosperous society.

Nowadays, the scope of Yaoshang Sports have become wider and wider with the introduction of academic activities like mathematical race, quiz programmes, other entertainment events and cultural activities.

But what the society needs to discuss is the lack of such platform for the youths to keep them away from drugs and intoxicants as Yaoshang Sports targets only the children and womenfolk in most of the locality.

Once, the children enter adolescence, they began to create distance from such activities with a few engaging in such social woks.

If the organisers widen the scope of the Yaoshang sports and arrange enough room for the youths also, it would not be a hard task for the society to keep its youths away from drugs and intoxicants.

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