{"id":6780,"date":"2026-01-22T21:36:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T16:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/?p=6780"},"modified":"2026-01-22T21:46:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T16:16:45","slug":"janajit-thangjam-jona-engineering-discipline-footballing-dreams-social-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/?p=6780","title":{"rendered":"Janajit Thangjam (Jona): Engineering Discipline, Footballing Dreams, Social Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

Janajit Thangjam (Jona) <\/strong>\u2013 Profile at a Glance<\/span><\/h2>\n

Born in Imphal, Manipur<\/strong>, Janajit Thangjam\u2014fondly known as Jona<\/em>\u2014is a powerful example of how discipline, passion, and service can shape meaningful lives. Raised in a value-driven family, he draws inspiration from his father, Th. Joykumar Singh<\/strong>, a retired Chief Engineer from the PWD, Manipur, whose dedication to public service left a lasting imprint. His mother, Th. Khelpriya Devi<\/strong>, nurtured resilience and balance at home. His siblings\u2014an engineer sister and an architect brother\u2014further reinforced a culture of excellence and purpose.<\/p>\n

Educated at Mayo College, Ajmer<\/strong>, and later graduating with a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from BMS College of Engineering, Bengaluru<\/strong>, Janajit\u2019s formative years were marked by outstanding achievements in sports. A versatile athlete, he represented his school at national levels in hockey, football, and basketball<\/strong>, earning the prestigious Sports Colours Award<\/strong> and serving as School Monitor and Basketball Captain<\/strong>. His football journey continued competitively through the BDFA C and B Division Leagues<\/strong>, both as a player and later as a manager and assistant coach. \"\"<\/p>\n

Professionally trained as a Mechanical Engineer<\/strong>, Janajit worked in operations and process management with Avant Garde Consulting<\/strong>, contributing to leading manufacturing clients and national quality initiatives under the Quality Council of India (QCI)<\/strong>. Yet, his deeper calling lay on the football field.<\/p>\n

In 2015<\/strong>, he founded NEYFC \u2013 North East Youth Football Club<\/strong> in Bengaluru, with a mission to empower children and youth through sport. A certified AIFF \u2018D\u2019 License<\/strong> and AFC \u2018C\u2019 License<\/strong> coach, Janajit has led grassroots football programs for underprivileged children in Manipur<\/strong> and Karnataka<\/strong>, enabling many to compete in KSFA Youth Premier Leagues<\/strong>. He has also conducted elite training programs at Mayo College Girls\u2019 School<\/strong> alongside Arjuna and Padma Shri awardee Oinam Bembem Devi<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Currently serving as Head Coach<\/strong> for NEYFC Academy<\/strong>, Jain Public School<\/strong>, and Athena FC (KSFA Women\u2019s B Division)<\/strong>, Janajit also leads the \u201cFootball for Hope\u201d<\/strong> campaign, reaching over 300 children<\/strong> in Manipur\u2019s relief camps.<\/p>\n

His mission is clear: to harness the power of football to instill discipline, confidence, and opportunity\u2014proving that sport can be a powerful force for social transformation.<\/p>\n

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Janajit Thangjam (Jona) \u2013 Profile at a Glance Born in Imphal, Manipur, Janajit Thangjam\u2014fondly known as Jona\u2014is a powerful example of how discipline, passion, and service can shape meaningful lives. Raised in a value-driven family, he draws inspiration from his father, Th. Joykumar Singh, a retired Chief Engineer from the PWD, Manipur, whose dedication to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6790,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[198],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bengaluru"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6780"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6783,"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6780\/revisions\/6783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/belgaumnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}