Mizoram: Football
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The sources of this series of articles on Football in Mizoram include
Abhishek Ganguly, Marcus Mergulhao, Saumyajit Basu, Siddharth Saxena
The Times of India The Times of India The Times of India The Times of India The Times of India The Times of India The Times of India Amitabha Das Sharma, The Hindu
2003: first sub-junior (under-16) title
Mizoram won its first sub-junior (under-16) title at Aizawl in 2003 and the Santosh Trophy campaign has borne fruit after a decade-long pursuit.
2012: violence
Mizoram was in the headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2012.
The senior State football team found itself at the centre of a controversy for participating in one of the worst on-field violence in Santosh Trophy history.
The shame it brought upon itself with that incident in 2012 at Bhubaneswar, where the Mizoram players fought with their Tamil Nadu counterparts in a free-for-all and saw five red cards (three from Mizoram and two from TN), apparently put the State into deep introspection.
2012: Mizoram Premier League
Then came the watershed moment when Mizoram launched its first professionally designed league — the Mizoram Premier League (MPL) — a few months after the Santosh Trophy fiasco.
“We had the belief, but we were waiting for the breakthrough, which came on Sunday evening at Siliguri when we lifted the long-aspired Santosh Trophy,” the new and energetic Mizoram Football Association (MFA) secretary Lalnghinglova Hmar, told The Hindu from Aizawl. The rogue tag that got unofficially attached to Mizoram has been shed with it winning the National crown.
The introduction of the MPL coincided with the Mizoram government instituting three artificial turfs in Aizawl and neighbouring Lunglei.
That was the second big reason that has helped the growth of structured football The MFA also entered into a Rs. 1.25-crore deal with local cable TV giant Zonet making the MPL a widely supported event.
2013 and ‘14: Mizoram football rules India
Mizoram in 2014 is what Manipur was some 10 years before, Around 2005, Manipur’s supply line gave players to clubs across the country. One season, there were 85 Manipur players in the National League. Mizoram’s triumph in the national football championship for the Santosh Trophy March 2014 has caught the fancy of the nation’s football lovers and it is pertinent to remind them that the Mizos won the junior nationals also, in Ranchi September 2013. It was a thumping 6-1 win over Assam for the U-17 BC Roy Trophy.
The March 2014 victory, also a maiden one for Mizoram, was long time coming.
Jeje Lalpekhlua, currently playing for Dempo, has been the mainstay of the Indian team and his combination with Sunil Chhetri was one of the few inspiring things about the national team under Wim Koevermans, till the 23-year old Mizo got injured.
For Manipur, football provided the escape route from the socio-political turmoil that the state was going through at the turn of the century. It is not the same for Mizoram. Their success rests on the solid bedrock of organisation, planning, government support, some honest will and effort of people like Hmar.
Perhaps, Mizoram is the template for other states to follow.
The Mizoram Premier League and Mizoram Football Association’s grassroots development programme: contribution of
It’s Raining Mizo Footballers
Loads of talent and hard work characterized Mizoram’s triumph in the 68th Santosh Trophy, 2014. Long-term planning, infrastructure development, effective development programmes at the grassroots level and the introduction of the Mizoram Premier League (MPL), all contributed significantly to Mizoram’s success in the National Football Championship, thereby making the state a force to reckon with in North-East’s rich football heritage.
Mizoram Football Association (MFA) secretary Lalnghinglova Hmar (born 1978) is credited with ushering in a football revolution in Mizoram. He reckons the MPL played a key role in transforming the state’s football landscape. “A few lucky ones got a break in I-League clubs but a significant number of equally good players had nowhere to showcase their talent. The MPL has given them that platform,” said Hmar
Hmar also credits the state government for supporting MFA’s grassroots development programme, which has been declared by All India Football Federation as the best in the country. It follows the FIFA model. Youngsters in the age-group of 6-12 are part of this programme.
Top Mizo players are already making their presence felt at many I-League clubs. Apart from the veteran S Malswamtluanga, the likes of Jeje Lalpekhlua, Lalrindika Ralte and Robert Lalthlamuana too have made their mark. Many more will follow. “I believe what you are seeing now is just the tip of the iceberg,” said Larsing Ming, the general secretary of Shillong Lajong FC, the first club from the N-E to feature in the I-League.
Lalbiakzuala, who the manager of the Mizoram team in the Santosh Trophy and is the technical secretary of the MFA, feels there is a need for a club from the state to qualify for the I-League. At present there are two I-League clubs from the North-East — Shillong Lajong FC and Rangdajied United FC — and both are based in Shillong. Shillong is the educational hub of the N-E region and is a cosmopolitan city. The two clubs have nurtured talents from the region. In fact, there are quite a few Mizoram players playing for Lajong.
Mizoram club, Aizawl FC, is the best bet to make a foray into the country’s elite club competition.
MPL: A RUNAWAY SUCCESS
The Mizoram Premier League, says Lalnghinglova Hmar, secy of Mizoram Football Association, is “Mizoram’s biggest entertainment”. Dinthar are the current (2014) champs.
The league is drawing big crowds — a good mix of men, women, young and old. Unlike many other leagues across the country, the league has a steady sponsor and all matches are televised live on Zonet Cable.
A popular Mizo sports website is also reported to provide online streaming of some important games to the rest of the world.
Aizawl FC is Mizoram’s most organized team and has fulfilled all of the tough Club Licensing criteria, mandatory for a place among India’s elite.
Players Help Each Other, Do Charity Work Together
Winning begins at home for Mizoram Lalrindika Ralte waits for the weekend in Kolkata and it’s not for any football action.
Every week, mostly weekends, the East Bengal midfielder waits to meet his fellow Mizoram players like Shylo Malsawmtluanga, Robert Lalthlamuana and Samson Ramagawia at popular meeting places and once the meeting is over, he eagerly looks forward to the next meeting. Ralte, popularly known as “Dika”, among India’s most promising footballers.
Since Malsawmtluanga joined East Bengal in 2002 and showed Mizoram the way, players from this North-Eastern state have found favour with several I-League clubs. East Bengal, Mohammedan Sporting, Bengaluru FC, Dempo Sports Club all have Mizoram players, although most of them play for clubs closer to home; Shillong Lajong FC and Rangdajied United FC, both based in neighbouring Meghalaya, is home to at least ten Mizo footballers.
“Unlike Manipur, we made late starts. Manipuri footballers started moving out of the state in the nineties, but until Malsawmtluanga (Mama) joined East Bengal, we had no clue about Indian football, or ways and means to get there,” says Dempo striker Jeje Lalpekhlua.
The Mizo group is a close-knit family and are never at odds with each other. In fact, most of them pick up the phone, speak to each other and find out ways to help people back home, who may not be as fortunate as them. “We try to help our society which has given so much to us. We know they need our support,” explains Dika, who along with Jeje, endorse brands back home.
Dika once had to dig deep into his pockets to fund the state under-19 football team who did not have enough money to buy their kits for a national tournament. Jeje parts with his savings whenever his village club needs help. And, while Malsawmtluanga remains the man they all seek advice from —whether it’s planning their savings or moving to another club — all of them don’t think twice when it comes to contributing to the community.
“It is in our culture to help anyone who is in need. We are all friendly people,” explains Jeje. (It is the same culture that has made Mizoram the second most literate state in India. This achievement is all the more remarkable because the Mizos, as a people, almost totally illiterate a hundred years before. They did not have a script and only a microscopic elite knew outside scripts.)
Every May, when the football season takes a break for two months and the players head to their respective homes, the Mizos get together and play a series of friendly matches, proceeds of which are equally shared by the MFA and the chosen charity.
See also
Mizoram: Football Mizoram: Football stars
