MIAO, Mar 1: Sports & Youth Affairs Minister Dr Mohesh Chai laid the foundation stone for a state sports school here in Changlang district on Friday.
The objective of the school is to encourage the sports culture in Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts, and to identify prospective sports talents from these districts and train them.
“It is for the first time that a sports school is being set up in partnership with a leading sports education and consultancy company, Sportseed, from New Delhi,” Dr Chai said in his address.
“Sports are not just for physical fitness or winning medals. They have emerged as a multi-billion dollar industry that can provide employment and entrepreneurship opportunities to children and youths of the state,” he said.
Highlighting the government’s policy for medal-winning athletes, Dr Chai said the sports academy here would “start as a temporary setup by offering four sports – archery, badminton, judo and table tennis.”
Earlier, Mossang spoke about the efforts being made to persuade the local government authorities to “open up the existing Miao Sports Club, which has been lying idle for many years.”
Sportseed director Sudhanshu Fadnis said the school would be set up on the “long-term athlete development model that is followed across the leading sporting nations of the world.”
The students of Chimpu-based Sangey Lhaden Sports School presented a Wushu demonstration on the occasion.
Food & Civil Supplies Minister Kamlung Mossang and MLA Laisam Simai were also present at the function. (DIPR)
