The final of the Santosh Trophy was the result of a decade long struggle of Mizoram. In the final at Siliguri, they defeated Railways very comfortably by 3-0 for their maiden title. What made the victory even sweeter was the fact that they remained undefeated in last 8 matches of the final championship. On course to victory, they curtailed the challenge of domestic heavyweights like Kerala, Maharashtra, Manipur and Tamilnadu.
The heroes of the team got warm welcome in the state. They passed through National Highway-54 from Lengpui Airport (only airport of the state) to Aizwal. Thousands of people cheered on both side of the road. The team was given a celebrated concert in the heart of the capital at Assam Rifles football field. Wednesday (the day when the team arrived at the capital) was declared a state holiday.
It was a rough ride to the top. Despite of having second highest literacy rate (92%) in the country after Kerala, Mizos face language problem outside the state. The main reason is that most of the people speak only Mizo language. They are neither conversant in English nor in Hindi. The infrastructure was in shambles up to a decade before. But public interest prevailed.
The victory of Santosh trophy is a case study of steady efforts by administrators and people.
Untill a decade ago, Mizoram has limited impact on Indian Soccer. The development of the game in the state was confined to projects conducted by AIFF and FIFA. In 2002, Shlo Malsawmtlunanga (better known as Mama) became the first state footballer to play for a National Club. He joined East Bengal as a midfielder.
It inspired many youngsters. The result was visible on the ground. Mizoram won Mir Iqbal Husain trophy (top most trophy in India U-15 division) recently. The lads got amplified by the success. Nearly half a dozen of them were selected in the national team. Zaidin Mawin went on to become captain of the junior national team.
In such blooming scenario, Government took positive steps. The state funded a lot of projects in last 5 years. In this period, 4 artificial turfs were opened to nurture the talent. It triggered the soccer growth in the state. In 2012, Mizoram Premier League was started. It consist of 8 teams and shown live on local television.
Strong league resulted in more active participation of the aspirant footballers. Many players learnt skills in Tata Football Academy. Mizoram is currently National junior champion due to all of these efforts. In the current U-19 Indian team, 5 players are from Mizoram. 20 Mizo players are currently playing in different clubs of I League. Jeje Lalpenkhulua is a youth icon in the state.
The top most football tournament of the North-East, Dr T Ao Memorial was won by Mizoram recently. The state soccer federation made a good calendar. It gave proper rest to player and suited administrators in hosting events.
For quite a long time, North eastern part of the country is filling the vaccum of Indian soccer. Among them, Manipur and Sikkim were the leaders. Now Mizoram has also joined the group. The sun of Indian soccer is rising in the East.