Motivation, proper planning and team work are the key factors for the Manipur sub junior girls in clinching the recently concluded the Sub Junior Girls National Football Championship.
After a gap of couple of years, Manipur girls clinched the national sub junior champion title with a 2-1 win over host Odisha in the final at Cuttack on July 12.
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
The championship was held under the supervision of All India Football Federation with 27 teams vying for top honours from July 1 to 12.
“We defeated Tamil Nadu (8-1) in our first ever encounter in the national championship,” says coach N Shivananda.
“We also managed to beat school games champ Jharkhand (5-1) through motivation and systematic training to fit the climatic conditions of the host state.”
Ready for a challenge? Click here to take our quiz and show off your knowledge!
Similarly the team also played out very competitively with the host Odisha who enjoyed a home crowd support to end two years title drought, the team manager Ch Keilani said.
Manipur sub-junior team bagged the title this year because of new trend of practice strategies and energetic mood of the very young girl footballers after timely motivation, according to the coach Shivanada.
Shivananda and Keilani were sharing their experience in winning the sub-junior football championship in Odisha during a reception function at All Manipur Football Association (AMFA) in Imphal on Sunday.
The key functionaries of the AMFA including its president S Sanatomba and general secretary in charge Jyotirmoy Roy attended the reception function.
Joint secretary L Nabachandra of AMFA talking to Northeast Now said, “Winning the coveted title by the state’s sub junior girls team in the national championship is a new chapter in the football history of Manipur which produced a number of prominent footballers who are presently playing for premier football clubs of the country.”
Unlike Manipur senior men and women teams which have won many national titles in the past, a sub-junior team winning national title is a rare event.