Image via S. Sri Sangar

When your love for sports since young develops all the way into a life-long career, you know you’re on the right track. This is the story about one of our unsung heroes for the DIGIyin Saathanai Hero-kkal campaign, S. Sri Sangar.

The 43-year-old from Penang has been playing football since he was in primary school. He took his love for the sport to the next level when he represented his school, Sekolah Kebangsaan Seberang Jaya, at the Seberang Perai Tengah district’s Under-12 inter-school tournament.

After gaining a fresh new look into the world of tournaments, he continued to participate in more Under-12 competitions. He got selected to represent Majlis Sukan-Sukan Pulau Pinang at the National Education Tournament in Selangor and Zone Seberang Perai Utara at the National U-12 KBS Tournament in Kuala Lumpur.

During his secondary school years, Sri Sangar took part in yet another Seberang Perai Tengah district inter-school tournament, this time in the Under-16 category. He was also selected to be part of the football team under Zone Seberang Perai Utara for the Penang Inter-Zone Tournament with Sekolah Menengah Dato Onn Butterworth.

Image via S. Sri Sangar

Wait for it… there’s more to come. You can tell his passion and achievements in football by the number of tournaments he went on to compete it.

In the Under-17 category, he was also selected to represent the Penang State Belia Team at the National Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) Tournament as well as the Penang Division 1 team, Yayasan Perai Rovers.

Sri Sangar also successfully progressed into the international stage when he was part of the Penang Ramblers FC team at a tournament held in Singapore. As a senior player, he played in the inter-state tournament with the Baradhan Cup Penang Team.

After playing in a number of football tournaments in his student years, he decided to further advance his football career by working as a team manager to help younger players develop their talent and skills in the sport.

Image via S. Sri Sangar

He managed the teams that played at the Penang Indian Under-12, Under-16, and Under-20 Malaysian Indian FA (MIFA) tournaments, as well as the senior team at the Penang Indian Bardhan Cup tournament.

During his time as Assistant Manager of the MIFA National Belia U19 Team in 2014, he was in-charge of conducting a nationwide selection to scout for 25 players for the team. Besides that, he also went on to organise said tournaments after being elected as the secretary and council member of MIFA since 2016.

Now, MIFA isn’t the only football association that Sri Sangar is a part of because he believes that he has more to contribute to the field.

 

Image via S. Sri Sangar

As the President of the Penang Indian FA (PIFA), he managed a total of 24 active Indian clubs on football development, set up a women’s team with more than 100 players, organised more tournaments, as well as conducted seminars and courses for players of different ages.

He was also appointed as Penang State Director by the National Tamil School Football Development (NTSFD) to develop football in Tamil schools and organise school tournaments for boys and girls who are skilled in the sport.

When he was the Penang contingent director for Sukan India Malaysia (SUKIM) in 2017, he successfully gathered over 125 athletes to compete in eight different sports. These athletes were able to finish with six gold medals, 23 silver, and 18 bronze.

Image via S. Sri Sangar

Last but not least, Sri Sangar is also a council member with the Malaysian Indian Sports Council (MISC), which is also an affiliate member of FAM.

The newest hat he wears now is the chief of the women football development under MIFA.

What an amazing portfolio, wouldn’t you agree? He is truly an inspiration to all football lovers and players in Malaysia.

This is part of the DIGIyin Saathanai Hero-kkal campaign as we constantly look to share stories of Malaysian ‘superheroes’ that live amongst us.