Indias richest mine of footballing talent lies in its north-east. More than 30 percent of Indias top-flight players from a region with little over three percent of its population.ESPN Indias exploration of football in Indias north-east which began with revisiting the life of the countrys first football captain Talimeren Ao, found that his home state, Nagaland -- multi-layered, mysterious, complex -- remains one of the most under-represented in Indian football. Only one player from Nagaland has featured in the I-League, the countrys top-flight competition to date.A journey to a village south-east of the capital Kohima aimed to look at Nagaland football in a microcosm and understand how the sport survives. Without manicured grounds or a sustained regular league or a string of role models but with the commitment of a few determined to drive change and a purity of love that endures among its people.Phek district in southeast Nagaland, is postcard country, picturesque villages surrounded by terraced paddy fields a land rich in biodiversity and often marked by conflict. The heart of Chizami village, 85 km east from Kohima, beats for football in more ways than one.Chizami, with its 600 households and population of around 3000, is a typical Naga village with church, school and tight sense of community. It is best known for Chizami Weaves, a unique livelihood project with local women weavers, but the man running a unique football project hopes it will become the home of a new generation of professional footballers from Nagaland.Under-12 trainees of the Life Sports grassroots football programme at Chizamis rudimentary turf ground for their early training. Life Sports, established in August 2008, ran a successful senior football team in local competitions until 2012 before moving onto grassroots football development as a means of giving young footballers a chance to make a livelihood from the sport.Colo Mero, director, Life Sports, whose football programme aims to provide modern training to village footballers and give them an option to make a career in professional football. Involved with students from his colleage days, Mero, who calls himself a social entrepreneur, says he runs his businesses to support his sports activities. He studied philosophy at the North East Hill University in Shillong and also served as Chaplain and Lecturer at Japfu Christian College, Kigwema from 1996-2005.Mero and his trainees gather to raise a cheer for football just before the morning training session.The ground in Chizami may be turf but after a round of rain turns muddy and difficult to play on, yet local football players throw themselves into the game.The Life Sports session completed, Ayhunsha Akami walks her seven year old son Wemetso Akami (in blue shorts) and his friend, Litse I.Thopi -- at six, the youngest trainee in the Life Sports project (in red) -- home after their early-morning training.Back home, Wemetso (in blue) and Litse rush out of their kit to wash and prepare for the day ahead while Wemetsos mechanic father Sote Akami tries to fix a broken motor part.Wemetsos mom Ayhunsha serves him and Litshe their morning meal of pumpkin and rice before taking them to school, while Wemetsos brother Wemecie (in school uniform) looks on.After the Life Sports trainees have left, the Chizami sports ground is busy with the inauguration with the villages annual sports competition complete with a Games torch. The annual meet will open with a football match.Hymns sung by local youth, some football competitors themselves, form part of the opening ceremonies of Chizamis annual sports meet in the presence of visiting dignitaries and elders of the village council.Flagbearers march away after taking the athletes, each bearing the colours of the teams representing the six khels, a Naga name for the localities within the same village. Naga villages have always functioned as independent units, with every khel given equal representation in the village council and play important roles in decision-making in matters related to village governance.The team from the Mechutheza khel (in red) huddle before the start of their match against Pfutsepa, which will open the annual sports meet in Chizami. The players crossed hands mimic the crosshatch gable design on top of the building, a traditional symbol atop Naga dwellings.Pfutsepa and Mechutheza go to battle in a rain-soaked slushy field, a Pfutsepa midfielder giving it all in order to drive a ball that was barely moving on the field due to the soggy conditions.A feast of local pork is being prepared on large woodfires for the dignitaries and elders of the village council attending the inauguration of the annual sports meet alongside the local ground, Chizami.Chizami locals await the start of the football match while the girls shy away from the gaze of the camera.Khwetelhi Thopi became the first player from Nagaland to play in the I League first division on loan to Aizawl FC from his club Rangdajied United of Shillong in 2015. He lives in Shillong today but belongs to Chizami. After completing his education, he returned to the sport he loved at the age of 20 and trained along with Life Sports at Chizamis local ground before setting out to make a career as a professional footballer. Cheap Lightning Jerseys Authentic . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Cheap Adidas NHL Jerseys . "Jeff is a hard worker who was an important special-teams contributor for us last season," said Stamps GM John Hufnagel. http://www.cheaplightningjerseys.com/ . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. Wholesale Lightning Jerseys . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. Cheap Tampa Bay Lightning Jerseys . -- Vincent Lecavalier got everything but the desired result in his return to Tampa Bay. PARIS -- Nathalie Boy de la Tour became the first female president of the French football league on Friday.The LFP general assembly elected Boy de la Tour and also chose a new administrative council on a four-year mandate. The 48-year-old Frenchwoman has been a member of the council since July 2013 -- the first woman to hold that role.Boy de la Tour said her first task was to bring trust and cohesion back to the French leagues, after disputes betweeen presidents of clubs in the first and second divisions.ddddddddddddhe said we will all work together toward this.Former France coach Raymond Domenech -- who guided France to the 2006 World Cup final -- had his bid for league president put forward by the administrative council but he was rejected by the general assembly. ' ' '