Guest Column Men of God and the beautiful Game Thursday, 17. December 2009 - Lector Mascarenhas (GW)
Their main mission in this world is to spread the good news about Jesus Christ but along the long journey the Priests have served humanity immensely through the field of Education and the game of Football. Goa is known the world over as a top tourist spot but in India it is also known as the best state in the game of Football. In the last football calendar, Goa claimed two prestigious titles in Indian football, the I-League and the Santosh Trophy, won by Churchill Brothers and the Goa State, respectively. Goa's climb in football has been slow but steady and now as Goa Football Association is completing fifty years since it establishment on the 22nd of December, 1959, we can go down memory lane and take great pride with nostalgia in our achievements over the years. Since 1959, several Presidents, Secretaries and other Executive Members have sacrificed, toiled hard, sincerely and selflessly to reach the summit. The backbone of the Goa Football Association is undoubtedly the clubs who have kept football live and kicking both at the national level and the village level. We are fortunate to have both the big clubs and the small clubs. The small village clubs are the nurseries of football and the big clubs provide bread and butter to the players. We would not have reached the top without the two complementing one another. I am sure many, players, administrators, referees etc, will claim credit for contributing much to Goan football and rightly so but the immense contribution of the priests through the schools they run in Goa, cannot be underestimated. In the seventies, school football was at its best. Monte de Guirim, Don Bosco High School, Panaji, Mount Mary High Scool, Chinchinim and Guardian Angel High School, Sanvordem-Curchorem were some of the prominent schools which have given great players to top Goan clubs, State and the country. All these schools were headed by priests who were very passionate about the game. Thankfully, now there are several more schools headed by priests continuing the tradition. In its fiftieth year, Goa Football Association too has rightly laid stress on development at the grass roots, the under 8-10 age group called the 'fun stage' or in other words the stress is on school football. Money spent on youth development is money spent wisely as it lays a strong foundation for a better tomorrow. But unfortunately there are not much funds available to train and give proper infrastructure to our youth. Our top Goan I-League clubs are known to have budgets in crores for each season, Professional clubs the world over have their own academies for youth development. In the absence of this, our professional clubs should adopt and fund schools to develop the game at the grass roots. Then and then only our dreams of having a true professional leagues, both at the national and state level, would be a reality otherwise they will just remain cosmetic in nature. As we celebrate fifty years, it would be in the fitness of things to bring forth the origin of football in the world and our little state of Goa. According to FIFA and GFA websites, the very earliest form of the game, for which there is scientific evidence, dates back to the second and third centuries B.C. in China. In 1863 the first Code of Rules were drafted in England, when the world's first football association was founded - The Football Association in England. In 1883, Rev Fr William Robert Lyons, came to Siolim, in Bardez taluka, from Udipi, the neighbouring state of Karnataka, founded a school at Siolim and introduced football there. Therefore, the GFA websites states that Fr Lyons might well be considered as the father of the game in Goa. This article is written to pay tribute to all the priests, both present and past, who have selflessly and very quietly done yeomen service to the game of football. http://www.indianfootball.com/en/news/articleId/2303