AFC: Vision Manipur

Manipur is a tiny state situated in the North-Eastern corner of India. But inspite of its dimunitive size, remoteness and backwardness in economic development and growth, Manipur has had a long standing tradition in the field of games and sports. Manipur has produced many renowned players in different sports. And because of this unending talents existing in the youths, the AIFF announced the selection of Manipur as one of the two states within India for the Vision India pilot project on March 28, 2005. Vision India is the strategy to realise the potential of football across the country, and within specific vision markets. Manipur was selected by the AIFF because of its enthusiasm for football. Since then the All Manipur Football Association has been preparing to make the project a grand success by following the directions of AIFF and the AFC. The initiatives and guidance of AIFF and the AFC served as the backbone of AMFA's preparations and are drawn as follows:

1. The Vision India delegation consisting of AFC officials visited Manipur from April 27 to 29, 2005 for an assessment and planning with AMFA.

2. AMFA's President and Honorary Secretary were given an opportunity by the AFC and AIFF to attend the Vision Asia conference and inauguration of Qingdao and Wuhan City Leagues in China (May 26 to 29, 2005) to gain knowledge and experience of the Vision Asia project.

3. A 6-member AMFA delegation attended the Workshop for Manipur Project on July 21, 2005 in New Delhi with the initiative of the AIFF.

4. 'Vision India - Project Manipur Task Force' was constituted on August 7, 2005.

5. The Government of Manipur permits AMFA to utilise three rooms of Hockey Stadium, Khuman Lampak Sports Complex, Imphal.

6. To assess and review the progress, Imtiaz ur Rehman and Jita Singh, AFC Development Officers visited Manipur during February 12 to 14, 2006. They also visited some schools in and around Imphal.

7. On May 17, 2006, AFC Workshop on Grassroots and Youth Development was conducted by Thomas Andreas Flath and Jita Singh.

8. AMFA Grassroots Committee has been constantly supervising and co-ordinating the District Grassroots organising Committees.

9. A 5-day Introductory Coaching course attended by 32 school nominated teachers on residential basis was conducted by AFC instructors.

10. A 5-day Basic Course of Referees of Grassroots was also conducted by Michael Andrews, AFC Instructor from August 5 to 9, 2006 for the teacher nominees of the Grassroot schools.

11. A two day Club Development Workshop was conducted on July 8/9, July 2006 for the Manipur State League clubs.

12. Jita Singh, AFC Development Officer, revisited Manipur from 27th July to 2nd August 2006 to strengthen the arrangements and preparations for the Grassroot School League.

13. S Ekendra Singh, AFC Instructor, conducted a 15 day AFC 'C' Certificate Coaching Course for the Manipur State League club coaches from September 25 to October 10, 2006 in which 24 participants attended.

14. MG Suvarna, AFC Referees Instructor, conducted a 5-day Referees preparatory course for MSL Referees, Match Commissioners and Referee Inspectors from October 4 to 18, 2006.

With the above laid preparations, four Districts - Bishnupur, Churachandpur, Thoubal and Kakching were identified for the grassroot league. Thus, 8 schools from each district were selected. And on September 9, 2006, the District Grassroot Schools League were simultaneously launched in the four districts. In order to make the Grassroots League a success, supports and contributions were extended by AIFF and MIS Boxer's Sports Goods Company Pvt. Ltd. So far the Govt. of Manipur has also extended financial assistance. Besides, the AIFF has also extended financial support to AMFA for Vision Manipur.
As a whole, the Vision India pilot project will be a stepping stone for the promising footballers of Manipur. It will give a golden opportunity to the footballers to expose themselves in a bigger circuit of world wide football. Hence, if this project turns out to be major success, then it won't be too far for us to reach the greater heights of World Cup and Olympic from this small state.