Nagaland witnessed its first-ever live telecast of any major sports tournament when SportsCast India livestreamed the whole Dr. T. Ao Trophy XXII Inter District Football Championship 2022, creating a beautiful history as more than 40,000 fans watched the final game live online which was played infront of the jam-packed galleries of Imkongmeren Sports Complex with Mon district advancing to the finals for the first time in their history.
But among all those, there was Joel Richard Williams from Gibraltar, a football coach by profession, who became one of the most beloved personalities among the locals because of his amusing yet engaging live commentary. Few may say he was a bit harsh but many may say he was the reason they enjoyed the tourney, and everyone unanimously agrees he made the tournament more exciting.
To rekindle memories of the tournament through his words, and to share dreams for the future, here is an exclusive conversation Mokokchung Times had with the 31-year-old Joel Richard Williams from Gibraltar, football coach of Gokulam FC, Kerala.
MTimes: Thank you for your time, Joel. So yes, you just wrapped up with Nagaland’s Dr T. Ao trophy; what was your experience like?
Joel: Well, I’ll be very honest with you: it was an amazing moment to be commentating on the Dr T. Ao tournament. The love and affection received from the people of Nagaland were overwhelming. The football was a good mix but yes, the people were incredible.
MTimes: And what have you been up to lately?
Joel: Well I’m here in Kerala coaching which is what I usually do. I’m a football coach working for Gokulam Kerala in their Youth Development area which means scouting for young talents and shaping them up to be future stars.
MTimes: Interesting. We definitely shall be getting to your coaching later but indeed, a lot of us have fallen in love with your sense of humour. For now, kindly tell us a little more about how you ended up in India.
Joel: How I ended up in India is not as interesting as the 6 years spent here (Laughs). I was coaching back home in Gibraltar and was doing a good job and out of the blue, I got a call from an Indian Company based in Mumbai. They wanted me to go to Mumbai to coach their academies…They called on a Sunday and 5 days later I was in London getting my visa to go to India. This was 2016.
MTimes: How long have you been involved with the football game? Has commentary always been a passion of yours?
Joel: I have been involved in football since a very early age. I’m 31 so…since I was 4 or 5, I was already playing football competitively back home in our youth leagues. So, all my life has been football.
Funny thing when you ask about commentary. I used to have a huge stutter when I was younger and could barely put two words together before stammering. I was bullied a lot during school age because of this but hey, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
MTimes: Indeed but wow, that was quite an impressive turnaround! So, what kind of preparation did you do for your live commentary during the Dr T. Ao tournament?
Joel: Preparation? To be very honest with you, I don’t usually prepare anything. As a commentator you need to know the names of the teams, players and officials maybe but the rest is all improvised as the game goes on. I have a very particular style of commentating; I don’t like boring people with innocuous stats etc. but I prefer engaging the audience because, at the end of the day, the audience is king. As simple as that.
MTimes: I guess you nailed it in that way. Coming around to that, was the live chat of the Dr T. Ao Tournament more entertaining than the game? Do you have any favourite moments from the tournament?
Joel: The energy from the audience kept me going and that’s the truth. Some of the games lacked in quality which happens even at the highest level of football. But the audience was incredible. The fans were the ultimate stars of the tournament.
MTimes: Could you kindly shed some more light on SportsCast India and what it aims to achieve? How significant was it for SportsCast to do coverage on a state like Nagaland?
Joel: SportsCast was begun by Aditya Mohanty and Harsh Rastogi. They are fabulous people with a tremendous vision regarding the coverage they want to bring to the table. They want to uncover talent by promoting leagues on a national level that otherwise would have gone unnoticed.
For SportsCast to do Nagaland— let me put it this way: I was told to try to get 10k viewers per day, anything above that would be wow. We got an average of 200k views per day and semis and finals day nearly 400k (Laughs).
MTimes: Oh, looks like someone miscalculated. Do you think Indian football has the potential to grow into a major sports industry shortly and if yes, what should Nagaland football do to take a slice of the pie?
Joel: Indian Football will grow without a shadow of a doubt. Nagaland has to improve the infrastructure regarding football like new grounds and turfs etc. Also, more coaches who actively coach are needed. Start with the grassroots and continue growing. It will be a 10 or 15-year process but it will happen.
MTimes: Will you be interested in being a part of more Nagaland football and beyond?
Joel: Is that even a question? HELL YEEEEWE
MTimes: As a professional, how would you rate Nagaland’s football within Indian football?
Joel: Well, it will need to improve but everything in life is about improving daily. With hard work Nagaland will get there I know this.
MTimes: You mentioned you’re a coach of Gokulam Kerala FC in the youth department where you scout young talents. Does your role include planning a strategy for a game too?
Joel: As a coach, yes. Its part of what I can do also.
MTimes: What kind of players impresses you the most?
Joel: To be honest, it’s not about the kind of players but more about the attitude of the player. It has to be a positive attitude to training and criticism etc. Football is all about having an elite mentality.
MTimes: If your team were behind in a game, what strategy would you employ to help get them back in the game?
Joel: As a coach, if you’re losing a game, you don’t have to lose faith in the players, you don’t have to lose your tactical set-up because the goal might have come from a mistake or something, you know. Obviously, if the other side is outplaying you then you have to change but against a very evenly balanced side, you’re playing better but the other team just scored out of the blue, just carry on with plan A.
MTimes: Lastly, any thoughts or messages you’d love to leave to our readers?
Joel: It was a pleasure being a part of the Dr T. Ao tournament. There are bigger and better things that are about to come to Nagaland football and we will definitely be a part of it, and so will I. I can’t wait to get back there and rock everybody’s world back in Nagaland. It’s just amazing; the love and affection I got there were just tremendous. It has a special place in my heart – a huge huge piece of my heart belongs to Nagaland. Hopefully, all of our viewers and our readers, spectators and fans will be tuning in with us and we’ll have more football with you guys.