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Getting To Know Shillong Lajong FC
“Football is to the people of North east what cricket is to the rest of India”. This itself says so much about the region which has given us so many great footballers in the past, and continues to produce many more on a regular basis.
24-Jul-2008 4:26:55 PM
The biggest
club in the region, Lajong SC, is now finally pushing for
representation of the region nationally, through a spot in the National 2nd
division. Goal.com spoke to the General Secretary of the famous Shillong club,
Mr. Larsing Ming Sawyan, who was kind enough to discuss all things ‘Lajong’
with us.
1) So how did Lajong SC come about into existence?
Well, the club was formed 25 years ago, after a group of friends got together and decided to do something for football in the North-east. Lajong, which means “Our own”, was created with the initial vision to become the biggest club in the north-eastern region of India. We have applied for a change in name, which will rechristen us as “Shillong Lajong Football Club”, and push us on to the national front.
2) You tell us that Lajong is the only privately funded club in the North-east. Where does the club get its main funding from?
The club’s founding and current President, Mr. P.D.Sawyan, who is also an entrepreneur, has been funding the club ever since its birth in 1983 through his business group, Center Point Group Enterprise. However, this year we have reached an agreement with the largest mobile service provider in the north-east, Aircel, who will also be sponsoring us from now on.
3) How about your own association with the club?
As my father has been the President of the club ever since it was formed, I’ve grown up watching football and Lajong in general, and even played for the senior Lajong side at the age of 15. After finishing college I came back and represented the team again, also finishing top scorer in one season! Anyhow, I decided that the best way I could help this club and the north-east is by developing the club further, rather than playing. That’s what we are all striving for right now, and that’s my job as the General Secretary of this club.
4) Could you tell us about some of the achievements of Lajong?
Well, over the last five years, we’ve won just about every tournament there is to play in the north-east, and are undefeated in the north-east for the past two years. Also, our youth teams are coming along in a big way, with our U-15 and U-16 teams being crowned champions in the state in the last two years. They did so by beating teams like Sports Authority of India on the way, which is commendable.
Eight of our players have played in the junior national team over the last five years, which is a great sign for our future. Also, 14 of our players represented Meghalaya in the National Games, and went on to win the bronze medal. In fact, some of the others in the squad were former Lajong boys as well, and are now plying their trade in the I-League. Like I said, we are the only private-owned club in the north-east, which also means that we run our club in the most professional manner, unlike others in the region.
5) You were just mentioning how good your younger players are. What exactly is the club doing for youth development?
We at Lajong give a lot of importance to developing young players, to ensure a continuous stream of talented players each year. The north-east is a huge oasis of talent as far as football is concerned, and we are doing our utmost to make full use of that. We organized a talent hunt in the state recently, and also have a scouting network in place in other states, through which we can identify young talent elsewhere as well. We shortlisted the number of players down to 50 from the hunt, and 25 of those young boys will get a one-year scholarship, which will include their education and housing as well. After one year, the scholarships can be extended as long as we want to keep that player with us at the club.
6) What about the coaching and infrastructure available to the players at your club?
Our Head Coach of the senior side, Herring Shangpliang, is actually an AFC A License holder, and our assistant coach is a C License holder, so they’re exceptional guides to any youngster. In addition to the ones mentioned, many of our former players also help out with the coaching at the club, especially at the junior level, where they share their experience with the young ones.
As far as infrastructure is concerned, we play our matches at the Shillong Sports Association Ground at the moment, where we have an average attendance of about 6000 for almost every game, which is even more than the attendance in some of the bigger cities. However, we are planning to build our own stadium once the finances are in place, and we consolidate our position at the national level. We’re targeting to start the process within the next 18 months.
7) What is the perception you want people to have of your club?
Football is to the people in the north-east what cricket is to the rest of India, if you know what I mean, so the kids here will always play the sport. We want our team to comprise almost entirely of players from the north-eastern region, as we feel it’s where the best Indian talent comes from. Four of our national captains have been from the region, and if you look around the I-League teams, you’ll find at least 3-4 north-east players in each squad, which itself says a lot. In fact, we lost 3 players to I-League teams last year itself. So there is a continuous supply of fresh talent here. We want to represent our region in the National League, and make the league more diverse than it currently is.
8) Despite the host of quality players that have emerged from the north east, how is it that no north-eastern club plays at the national level?
Well, I think that there are reasons which go beyond football in this case. The region, in general, is quite distant from the rest of India socially, culturally, and economically. Having said that, one has to admit that money plays a big role in sport. If enough funds aren’t made available, the club cannot really take itself to the next level. However, we are now in much better shape than before, and there is a lot of funding as compared to earlier. The north east is critical to Indian football, and this is where we can play a big role.
9) Could you tell us more about your future plans, namely that of getting into the second division of the national league?
We’ve been there and thereabouts for a few years now, and we were quite close to qualifying for the second division last time around. We beat teams like Indian Bank in the qualifying matches, drew with Viva Kerala, but lost narrowly 1-0 to Salgaocar and Army XI, which cost us dearly. We have also fulfilled the AIFF’s 16-point criteria to be eligible to play in the national league, and I feel we are much better prepared this time around, to finally make that plunge.
10) Which clubs, Indian or non-Indian, do you admire and would like to Lajong to learn from?
In terms of marketing and creating awareness, I think Real Madrid and Manchester United are the clubs each club in the world could learn from. They have marketed their clubs extremely well, and the results are there for all to see. In India, I really admire Dempo, for what they’ve achieved in the last few years. They’ve erased the general idea that only Kolkata could produce a national champion, and have put Goa back on the footballing map of India.
11) Finally, give us your vision for Lajong SC, in a line or two, if you will?
I would just like to say that till now, the amount of talent tapped in the the north-east is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. We at Lajong want to reach the bottom of that iceberg, and bring more footballers from the region to the fore. As a consequence of that, we want to take north-eastern, and Indian, football forward.
We sincerely hope and wish, Mr. Sawyan, that Lajong’s time will come soon. It’s only right, that the region which produces so much talent, and which is so passionate about the sport, is represented in the I-League. ‘I’ stands for the whole of India after all.
Thank you so much. We need all the support that we can get.
As told to Atishay Agarwal
1) So how did Lajong SC come about into existence?
Well, the club was formed 25 years ago, after a group of friends got together and decided to do something for football in the North-east. Lajong, which means “Our own”, was created with the initial vision to become the biggest club in the north-eastern region of India. We have applied for a change in name, which will rechristen us as “Shillong Lajong Football Club”, and push us on to the national front.
2) You tell us that Lajong is the only privately funded club in the North-east. Where does the club get its main funding from?
The club’s founding and current President, Mr. P.D.Sawyan, who is also an entrepreneur, has been funding the club ever since its birth in 1983 through his business group, Center Point Group Enterprise. However, this year we have reached an agreement with the largest mobile service provider in the north-east, Aircel, who will also be sponsoring us from now on.
3) How about your own association with the club?
As my father has been the President of the club ever since it was formed, I’ve grown up watching football and Lajong in general, and even played for the senior Lajong side at the age of 15. After finishing college I came back and represented the team again, also finishing top scorer in one season! Anyhow, I decided that the best way I could help this club and the north-east is by developing the club further, rather than playing. That’s what we are all striving for right now, and that’s my job as the General Secretary of this club.
4) Could you tell us about some of the achievements of Lajong?
Well, over the last five years, we’ve won just about every tournament there is to play in the north-east, and are undefeated in the north-east for the past two years. Also, our youth teams are coming along in a big way, with our U-15 and U-16 teams being crowned champions in the state in the last two years. They did so by beating teams like Sports Authority of India on the way, which is commendable.
Eight of our players have played in the junior national team over the last five years, which is a great sign for our future. Also, 14 of our players represented Meghalaya in the National Games, and went on to win the bronze medal. In fact, some of the others in the squad were former Lajong boys as well, and are now plying their trade in the I-League. Like I said, we are the only private-owned club in the north-east, which also means that we run our club in the most professional manner, unlike others in the region.
5) You were just mentioning how good your younger players are. What exactly is the club doing for youth development?
We at Lajong give a lot of importance to developing young players, to ensure a continuous stream of talented players each year. The north-east is a huge oasis of talent as far as football is concerned, and we are doing our utmost to make full use of that. We organized a talent hunt in the state recently, and also have a scouting network in place in other states, through which we can identify young talent elsewhere as well. We shortlisted the number of players down to 50 from the hunt, and 25 of those young boys will get a one-year scholarship, which will include their education and housing as well. After one year, the scholarships can be extended as long as we want to keep that player with us at the club.
6) What about the coaching and infrastructure available to the players at your club?
Our Head Coach of the senior side, Herring Shangpliang, is actually an AFC A License holder, and our assistant coach is a C License holder, so they’re exceptional guides to any youngster. In addition to the ones mentioned, many of our former players also help out with the coaching at the club, especially at the junior level, where they share their experience with the young ones.
As far as infrastructure is concerned, we play our matches at the Shillong Sports Association Ground at the moment, where we have an average attendance of about 6000 for almost every game, which is even more than the attendance in some of the bigger cities. However, we are planning to build our own stadium once the finances are in place, and we consolidate our position at the national level. We’re targeting to start the process within the next 18 months.
7) What is the perception you want people to have of your club?
Football is to the people in the north-east what cricket is to the rest of India, if you know what I mean, so the kids here will always play the sport. We want our team to comprise almost entirely of players from the north-eastern region, as we feel it’s where the best Indian talent comes from. Four of our national captains have been from the region, and if you look around the I-League teams, you’ll find at least 3-4 north-east players in each squad, which itself says a lot. In fact, we lost 3 players to I-League teams last year itself. So there is a continuous supply of fresh talent here. We want to represent our region in the National League, and make the league more diverse than it currently is.
8) Despite the host of quality players that have emerged from the north east, how is it that no north-eastern club plays at the national level?
Well, I think that there are reasons which go beyond football in this case. The region, in general, is quite distant from the rest of India socially, culturally, and economically. Having said that, one has to admit that money plays a big role in sport. If enough funds aren’t made available, the club cannot really take itself to the next level. However, we are now in much better shape than before, and there is a lot of funding as compared to earlier. The north east is critical to Indian football, and this is where we can play a big role.
9) Could you tell us more about your future plans, namely that of getting into the second division of the national league?
We’ve been there and thereabouts for a few years now, and we were quite close to qualifying for the second division last time around. We beat teams like Indian Bank in the qualifying matches, drew with Viva Kerala, but lost narrowly 1-0 to Salgaocar and Army XI, which cost us dearly. We have also fulfilled the AIFF’s 16-point criteria to be eligible to play in the national league, and I feel we are much better prepared this time around, to finally make that plunge.
10) Which clubs, Indian or non-Indian, do you admire and would like to Lajong to learn from?
In terms of marketing and creating awareness, I think Real Madrid and Manchester United are the clubs each club in the world could learn from. They have marketed their clubs extremely well, and the results are there for all to see. In India, I really admire Dempo, for what they’ve achieved in the last few years. They’ve erased the general idea that only Kolkata could produce a national champion, and have put Goa back on the footballing map of India.
11) Finally, give us your vision for Lajong SC, in a line or two, if you will?
I would just like to say that till now, the amount of talent tapped in the the north-east is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. We at Lajong want to reach the bottom of that iceberg, and bring more footballers from the region to the fore. As a consequence of that, we want to take north-eastern, and Indian, football forward.
We sincerely hope and wish, Mr. Sawyan, that Lajong’s time will come soon. It’s only right, that the region which produces so much talent, and which is so passionate about the sport, is represented in the I-League. ‘I’ stands for the whole of India after all.
Thank you so much. We need all the support that we can get.
As told to Atishay Agarwal
Inside Goal.Com
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