Sports in Shillong City, List of Sports Centres in Shillong

Some play various sports to remain active and fit, some play just as a form of recreation while others take up a particular sport seriously and makes a career out of it. The people of Shillong, are a huge fan of many different types of sports. They enjoy a lot of sports like squash, basketball, bike racing, car racing, swimming, cricket, karate, boxing, archery, football, cricket, tennis, golf, adventurous sports and a lot of indoor games. Football is the most important game in this region. The Shillong Football Club is quite popular among the masses.

Golf in Shillong

The golf course was set up in 1898 by British civil Service officers is one of the oldest and the natural golf course in the world. It is said to be the Glen eagles of the East by the United States of Golf Association and Museum. It was set up at an undulating valley. The course was constructed at an altitude of 5200 feet. The valley was covered with thick pine and rhododendron trees. Earlier it was a 9 hole course. In 1924 Captain Jackson and CK Rhodes converted it into 18 hole course. The fairways are carpeted with local grass that makes the soil hard and therefore making the course a challenging one. The longest hole on the course is 594 yards, which is one of the longest in India.

There are also facilities like tennis courts, flower gallery and library inside the golf course complex. The Shillong Golf Course site is a picturesque spot. It is visited by tourists in large number. The immaculate greenery of the site attracts tourists to the spot.

Archery in Shillong

Archery has been used for combat and hunting, while in modern times, it is an Olympic sport. Archery is the most popular sport in Shillong. Shillong is also known for the extremely popular archery gambling scores of an archery game are predicted. Played near Polo Ground it is "a game of dreams", one dreams and describes it into digits. According to the dream that one had, one writes these numbers in the "Tir" counters. Almost every small shop in and around Shillong has a Tir counter. At the Tir counter you can buy any ticket of any digits ranging from 0-100. A ticket of Re.1 will draw a sum of Rs. 80 and in the first round around 4:00 p.m, and and Rs.60 around 4:30 in second round.The shop has a license number and some other numbers written on a black board that hangs in the front for everyone to see.

The game is played in a small open ground about the size of a tennis court where the one corner is designated as the target - a pine arrow stand to hold the arrows when hit. The court is arranged in a semicircle. Firstly, there is a judge who declares the final. There are about 10 Tir huts, and each hut represents a team. In the first round, there are 10 archers representing their hut with a shot of 30 arrows each within 4 minutes. It sums up to 1500 arrows. They would then stop and the lucky number is decided from these arrows. If, for instance, 559 arrows hit the target the number will be 59, taking only the last two digits. The complication involved in drawing the lucky numbers makes it almost impossible to pull wires of the outcome. In the second round all the 50 archers from 5 clubs shot 20 arrows each within 3 minutes. The officials involved would count the arrows in front of everyone and declare the number there itself. In the second round out of 1000 arrows 330 hit the target. In the second round case the lucky number declared was 30. Then, the no 59 and 30 is displayed on all the counters all over Shillong.

Biking in Shillong

Biking is considered to be scary, a hobby that can take lives. Yet if proper safety measures are taken, there is nothing harmful. Performing with proper training and in a proper controlled environment, stunts do not really seem to be treacherous. Bikers are advised to be properly clad with helmets and safety gears, and are asked not to perform stunts in public places.

Biking in Shillong is everybody's passion, and it’s because of the passion that the people have taken up biking seriously also participates in a lot of shows and tournaments. “Ghost Ryderz” and "Freaky Bykers” are young biking enthusiasts which initially started off as a small group but is now to a stunt team, with XHBP as their assistant and support.

Water Sports in Shillong

The water sports complex at Umiam provides water skiing, sailing, fishing and canoeing.

Skiiing@Rs 200 Per Head -5 maximum ride
Yatching@ Rs 100 Per Head - 1 Hour Ride - (Capacity 2)
River bus @Rs 50 Per Head - 20 Minutes Ride (Capacity 30 + 2) Minimum 10 Person
High speed boat@ Rs 75 Per Head - 5 Minutes Ride (Capacity 14 + 1) Minimum 10 Person
Speed boat@ 150 Per Ride of 5 Minutes - (Capacity 4+1
Cruising boat@Rs 20 Per Head -10 Minutes Ride (Capacity 12 + 1) Minimum 5 Person
Scooter@Rs 50 Per Head - 5 Minutes Ride - (Capacity 1+1)
Pedal boat/canoe/kayak@ Rs 20 Per Head - 30 Minutes Ride - (Capacity 4)

Address:
Umaim lake,
Shillong.

Stadiums in Shillong

Nehru Stadium is a football stadium in Shillong and hosts the home matches of Shillong Lajong FC of the I-League. In 2009, the football club known as Shillong Lajong F.C earned promotion to the top-tier of Indian football I-League and as a result started using the Nehru Stadium as their ground.
Seating Capacity - 30,000