Naga sportspersons and coaches awarded

KOHIMA, AUGUST 9: In an attempt to encourage sportspersons and give recognition to their achievements, the Department of Youth Resources and Sports (YR&S) on Tuesday felicitated 305 meritorious sportspersons and coaches who have excelled and brought laurels to the state in their respective disciplines.
The award ceremony was held at Indira Gandhi Stadium in Kohima. The event was graced by the chief minister, TR Zeliang as the chief guest. The programme also had the presence of the Chief Secretary of Nagaland, Pankaj Kumar and Parliamentary Secretary for YR&S, Music Task Force and State Lotteries, Khriehu Liezietsu, as the special guests.
Addressing the gathering, the chief minister said “Medallists who are gathered here today deserve not only recognition and awards, but they deserve to be appreciated by all of us. We are grateful to all of you for making us proud,” and urged them not to rest on their achievements, but to strive harder to achieve greater heights.
CM Zeliang encouraged the sportspersons to give their best to achieve more and bring laurels to the state.
“Sportspersons are ambassadors of the state, because, through them, people from across the country and the world come to know more about the state and the people,” he said adding that “these days, nations fight for fame and honour, not in conventional battlefields, but in the arena of sports.Zeliang also emphasized the need for proper training and guidance in the attempt to promote sports in the state.“I firmly believe that our youngsters and sportspersons are second to none. And if they are given proper training and guidance, I am confident that more of our sons and daughters will receive medals, not only at the regional level, but also at the national level and international level,” Zeliang said adding that “the State government will leave no stone unturned to provided sports infrastructure and facilities in the years to come.
The chief minister also acknowledged the role and contributions of the coaches and officers and staffs of the Youth Resources department and other stakeholders of the sports fraternity. To this, he advised the coaches to continue giving their best efforts in moulding the sporting talents to become medal winners at top level of sports.
The chief minister interacting with media persons later after the award ceremony, proposed the need for bringing prominent and good coaches to the state to train Naga sportspersons, other than sponsoring sportspersons to go outside the state to participate in tournaments.
The CM maintained that games and sports in the state wouldn’t not progress much without proper training. He observed that other northeast states like Assam and Manipur also progressed in sports, because they hired good coaches to train their athletes.
The CM, in the presence of the Parliamentary for YR&S Khriehu Liezietsu, informed that the renovation activities at IG Stadium would be completed this year before December. Meanwhile, the construction is underway at IG Stadium to provide new facilities such as synthetic running track, Astroturf football ground and floodlight.
305 athletes were awarded during the ceremony in 15 disciplines,102 medalists for Gold Category, 90 in Silver and 113 for Bronze Category. The awardees include those achievers who have won medals from 2014 till 2016. The best coach award was bestowed upon Badminton Coach, T. Imtisungit Ao.