Sepaktakraw coach Neikha highlights sport's transformative power in Nagaland

Nagaland women’s sepaktakraw team with coach Puleno Neikha at the Khelo India Beach Games.

• DIMAPUR — Puleno Neikha, coach of Nagaland’s women’s sepaktakraw team, referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message delivered during the inauguration of the first edition of the Khelo India Beach Games, where he spoke about the transformative power of sports, said the impact of sports has already begun in Nagaland and this initiative by the Government of India will now open new avenues of opportunity for Nagaland girls.
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• In a press statement, Neikha said that sepaktakraw is the most prevalent and popular sport in Nagaland, introduced in 1995 as a recreational activity. It was initiated by physical education teacher Holse Khario and technically supported by the Sports Authority of India (SAI). Since then, sepaktakraw has come a long way in Nagaland, with a large number of boys and girls now registered in the sport.
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• Since 2004, she said, the state government has made special arrangements for sepaktakraw training in Dimapur.

Also read: Khelo India Beach Games ‘open new doors of opportunity’ for Nagaland’s sepak takraw girls

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• Coach Puleno, herself a former national-level player and women’s team coach at the 2018 Asian Games, currently trains girls at SAI. Six girls from her team are currently serving in the Nagaland Police, three of whom secured their jobs due to their achievements in sepaktakraw.
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• “Our girls have won medals at every level. We won the bronze medal in the first edition of the Khelo India Beach Games. Before that, we won medals at the Goa National Games and again this January at the senior nationals. In addition, our boys and girls won multiple medals at the Khelo India Youth Games held in Bihar.
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• “Our players have been consistently winning medals at all Khelo India events. Now that the Government of India has launched the Beach Games, I believe this will open up new doors of opportunity for our children,” Puleno said.
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• Puleno shared that sepaktakraw is widely recognised in Nagaland and that the government is taking several steps to promote it. As a result, the state has produced many outstanding international players.
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• “The sport is consistently featured on the Khelo India platform, and its inclusion in the very first Beach Games is proof of its growing popularity across the country. This will definitely benefit the players in the times to come.” Puleno added.
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• Ketose Thiyosikose, head of the Nagaland delegation in Diu and sports director in Dimapur, mentioned that a special grassroots talent hunt is being conducted for sepaktakraw.
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• “We conduct coaching camps in rural areas, and most of our players come from these regions. Most of the girls playing in Diu are from rural backgrounds. We take them into our academy between the ages of 10 and 14, where they gain years of experience. The selected children are trained in open grounds, which helps them adjust better to playing on sand,” Thiyosikose said, adding, “Naga girls are highly dedicated. Being from a hilly region, they have always been naturally good at sepaktakraw.”
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• The Khelo India Beach Games, taking place from May 19 to the 24th in Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu, mark the first beach edition under the Khelo India banner. The event features six medal sports—beach soccer, beach volleyball, beach sepaktakraw, beach kabaddi, pencak silat, and open water swimming—and two demonstration sports, mallakhamb and tug of war.