The Bhutan Football Federation is planning to add commentary to the Bhutan Premier League matches from next season. For this, a first-ever football commentary workshop was held in Thimphu. The three-day workshop which started on Thursday was aimed at fostering talent and building capacity in sports broadcasting. Leading Singaporean sports commentator and pundit Rhysh Roshan Rai led the workshop as the facilitator.
The workshop was conducted for sports enthusiasts aspiring to build careers in sports commentary. Around 20 participants from various sports federations, a national athlete, and students and a lecturer from the
Royal Thimphu College (RTC) among others attended the workshop.
Rhysh Roshan Rai who facilitated the workshop is a presenter, commentator and pundit with more than 12 years of experience in sports broadcasting. He has wide ranging experience with major football leagues in the world including the English Premier League and AFC competitions. He shared his experiences and provided guidance to participants on developing their skills as proficient football commentators.
“People are starting to gain a lot more interest in it and there is a real demand for commentary for the Bhutan Premiere League now which is a sign that things are developing very well. BFF along with the AFC trying to have this workshop is a good sign of things going forward because that means taking on both feedback and they themselves also want to develop the game here, not just on the pitch but in terms of the growth of game off the pitch with adding commentaries and giving opportunities to potential commentators from Bhutan.”
Football or any other sports in Bhutan is usually played and streamed without commentaries.
Therefore, this initiative is part of the Bhutan Football Federation’s vision of advancing different aspects of football in Bhutan, focusing not only on on-field development but also on media and broadcasting.
Sonam Choden Thinley, a student of RTC and Manoj Adhikari, a cricketer who are both participants of the workshop shared their interest in sports commentary and the importance of such workshop in the country.
“There are not many commentators in Bhutan. There are many comments on Facebook saying that there is no commentary and that it is important to have commentary in the matches. So, I would like to be a commentator to be able to fulfill the passion of the fans and help them understand more about the game.”
Manoj Adhikari, a participant said “We did not have this kind of opportunity before where we have been trained as a commentator and we did not have any opportunity to go and do commentary on live matches. So, such kind of training will definitely help us.”
As a part of the workshop, the participants were given the opportunity to go live and comment on the BoB Bhutan Premier League match between Transport United and Thimphu City on Saturday alongside trainer Rhysh Roshan Rai.
Karma Thinley, a participant said “For the first time, it is quite difficult but I hope in the future we can do it better. This is just a milestone to develop our career in the field of commentary.”
Arun Gurung, another participant said “For the last two days, we were learning theories and today we had a chance to practise it on the field. So, it was a good experience for us to give commentary on a live match.”
The Bhutan Football Federation said interested participants will be given opportunities to comment on Bhutan Premier League matches from next season. The federation has plans to recruit the best performers.
The federation aims to provide fans with a richer and more engaging football viewing experience from next season.
Sangay Chozom
Edited by Kipchu
