Shillong, Jun 28: Sports associations should temper their expectations of organisational aspects of the Meghalaya Games as it is, at the end of the day, an inter-district sports meet.
This was stated by the Meghalaya State Olympic Association General Secretary Finely L Pariat during a sit-down with reporters yesterday. Also addressing the media was MSOA Working President John F Kharshiing and the two covered a wide variety of subjects, such as next year’s 6th Meghalaya Games in Jowai, this year’s 3rd Sohra International Half Marathon and deferred elections to the MSOA executive council.
Speaking about the Meghalaya Games, the MSOA has already held three meetings/inspections in Jowai with officials from the government and sports associations.
Compared to 2024’s host city Tura, one good thing about Jowai is that it had numerous indoor halls in and around the town within short distances of each other, which should preclude the need for extensive travel between venues or setting up of temporary tented venue halls.
All told, the MSOA is expecting to have 24 or 25 competitive disciplines at the Games, which will be held in January. Applications to be included are always coming in, though, from newer sports associations, particularly in martial arts.
Kharshiing said that these will be considered subject to logistics – venue, accommodation, etc. “Our aim, in the years to come, is to be able to eventually host 40 disciplines, like in the National Games,” he added.
The Meghalaya Games were revived in 2020 after a gap of 16 years and have been held fairly regularly since then. Asked whether he could point to a particular athlete who has used the platform of the state event to achieve success nationally, Kharshiing said, “We’re not going to get a national champion from one Meghalaya Games. It needs to be a consistent effort over several years from the athletes, coaches, officials and government.”
There is often a debate on whether there is benefit in spending big money on holding mega sports events or rather investing that cash in the grassroots.
Although he is a key man in organising the Games, Pariat sits somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. With the growth of the event from just a handful of disciplines to two dozen in 2025 and with the budget expanding every year, state sports associations are raising their expectations, something Pariat wants to keep in check.
“Associations cannot expect too much from the government or us,” he said. “This is an inter-district sports meet but demands are very high. It cannot be at the standard of national events but we will give what we can.”
The MSOA General Secretary is keen on paring down expenses. “Government shouldn’t have to spend money on an inter-district event like an international one,” he said. “Instead, it would be better to use the money on camps and other ways to develop athletes. Meghalaya Games is also an opportunity for [the host] district to get infrastructure that is really needed.”
(File photo of the 5th Meghalaya Games 2024)
