Our Correspondent
TURA:
It is a proud moment for Meghalaya, and Garo Hills in particular, as a young soccer player from the region has made it to the Indian team for the upcoming international football tournament for the blind at Kochi in Kerala.
The tournament will be held from September 26 to October 2.
Visually challenged football enthusiast Klingson D Marak will be vying for the top spot at the football tournament as he plays alongside ten others of the national team at the IBSA Blind Football Intercontinental Cup-2023 at Kochi.
A key striker, Klingson Marak is not someone new to the game.
From 2021-22 he has played for the national side in tournaments held in England, North America, Japan, Thailand and Oman making a mark as a skilful tackler of the ball.
“We are rooting for him and are optimistic he will win laurels for the state and country. His love for football is such that he wanted the game to be loved by others like him. He is the founder of the Garo Blind Football Club which he helped to register as a society in 2019,” says Jhon Lavin Ch Marak, the secretary of the club.
Klingson has been in Kerela for more than a month, prior to the tournament, training with the other team members.
Hailing from Rongsepgre village under Zikzak block in South West Garo Hills district, his childhood blindness failed to deter him.
His parents Subendro Rema and Jenmi D Marak enrolled him at Tura Montfort Centre for Education School in 2014 where he quickly adapted to playing the game, despite being visually impaired.
He got selected in 2016 for the Indian Blind Football squad and was taken to Kochi where he was enrolled in a training camp and came out on top as one of the most promising players.
From Kochi, there has been no turning back for Klingson as he went on to represent the squad in one tournament after another across the globe marking him as an international player.
He has been bestowed with multiple awards in the past few years- from becoming a youth icon of the election department in his district in 2017 to having been selected this year by the Meghalaya government for the U Kiang Nangbah Award for sports.
“He is a shining example for others to emulate and we are proud of him for bringing fame and honour to our country, our state and the Garo tribe,” says Jhon Lavin Ch Marak of the Garo Blind Football Club.