Is football dying in Candolim? A Veronica Fernandes
This writeup is from AVF's Facebook page. While it refers to Candolim, the situation of declining football is also felt in many other parts of Goa, as has been pointed out in the discussion to that post. Send your feedback and comments to goa...@goanet.org While bowing down my head in reverence to Fr. Lyons, I'd like to note his role as the pioneer in promoting the soccer in Goa. The coastal village of Candolim, being close to Arpora and Aguada, it is but natural that the influence of soccer came heavily on Candolim from Arpora on one side and from the village of Aguada on the other side. My village of Candolim has also been receptive of any innovation. It absorbed the soccer system introduced by the Portuguese soldiers stationed at Aguada. The British soccer system introduced by Fr.Lyons at the Arpora school of St Joseph's was accepted by others. One might ask the question here: who was Fr. Lyons? Fr. Lyons was none other than a young seminarian from out of the state who, while undergoing his studies at a Noviciate, was afflicted with a serious skin desease. His superiors came to know, and believed at the time that this was incurable. Therefore, he was asked to leave the seminary, which he did and started moving around in search of medicine for the cure of this disease. This he did till he came across one man who told him to go to Goa where there existed the village called Sinquerim, and where he would find springs of medicinal water that would cure his disease. Following this advice, he got cured and as a mark of gratitude to Goa, Fr. Lyons launched English education in Goa by starting the first English high school in the whole of Goa at Arpora. At the time, about some 150 years back, the villagers of Candolim were mainly manual workers. Namely, Xetkars-Zotkars-Paddekars-Nistekars (farmers-ploughmen-pluckers-fishermen). They, and others, formed their own soccer team called 'Pelvan'. It gained a lot of popularity especially when this team defeated both Aguada, comprising pakles and khapris (the Euro and African players of colonial times) and the Arpora school teams. The Pelvan team from Candolim received no formal coaching from any qualified trainer. Yet, the team members carried with them both a very good aptitude and a strong love for playing soccer. They turned out to be innovative on the field, thus giving them the impetus to play better soccer. My father was one of the team's prominent members, who was once given a medal by a Portuguese Military Officer stationed at Aguada for playing a very good game. Another important player of that team was my maternal uncle Dioginho Vaz. He was a player of whose type Candolim has not yet produced another, though my eldest brother the late 'Cheddo' playing for the Goa Police came close. Speaking about him, the renowned medico from Candolim Dr. Gustavo Monteiro, who was the president of Goa Football Association, openly said: “Candolim is yet to see another Dioginho Vas, such a player is very difficult to come again." Also speaking on Dioginho Vaz, the then Principal of Arpora School Fr.Mendonca, who when he came to know that Dioginho Vaz was my maternal uncle, put his hand around my shoulder and praised the latter, comparing him with the then famous Abu from Vasco who was like a Goan Pele and said Dioginho Vaz was much better than Abu. As a very small boy, my uncle Dioginho Vaz once told me how he was better than Abu. He felt Abu gained the advantage over him and concluded saying: Abu, by playing in Vasco and other prominent soccer grounds, had better exposure and this is the reason he became more famous. In my village some of the seniors had been told by their elders that two members of our family clan were renowned players of the then mighty soccer team Pelvan of Candolim. Whenever we meet we still greet each other saying: 'Pelvan'. The meaning of this Konkani word is similar to "strong", and the players of this team had to be physically strong in fist fights too. If any fight took place on the field, they had to beat their opponents. They were feared on the field for their artistic game and also they were more feared beyond the football grounds too. According to my father and uncle, Portuguese soccer had a much higher standard, and Goans liked their system and standard. * * * Now, in our times, it is very disappointing to learn that in my village there is no enthusiasm among the current generation of young boys to play soccer as we had during our days. During my younger days, our Candolim ground was full with local players almost throughout the year. But now what I noticed of late that our football ground is being rented to outside teams for them to practice. Our village boys who once had the opportunity to use it anytime are being denied their rights to use this ground freely as before. In this way, how are we to develop our football and bring back the glories and laurels for the Candoicars in the field of soccer? In the past so many of our young boys donned not only the colours of the then mighty Sesa Goa, Dempo, Salgaocars, Vasco and others teams but even played in the National and International tourneys and brought name and fame for themselves and for our village of Candolim too. It is a pity that some of our villagers, the so-called custodians, do not know their own fathers. Then how they will know the history of our prestigious village? And, to top it all, settlers in Candolim want to become the leaders of our village. Where have our genuine villagers gone? ### Excerpted from a longer version on Facebook. -- FN * +91-9822122436 * 784 Saligao 403511 Bardez Goa ------------------- YouTube Channels ------------------- FN https://www.youtube.com/c/FrederickFNNoronha/videos or https://bit.ly/FNOnYouTube FN1 https://bit.ly/FNVideos1 FN2 https://bit.ly/FNVideos2 ------------------- ------------------- ---------------- *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Join a discussion on Goa-related issues by posting your comments on this or other issues via email to goa...@goanet.org See archives at http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/ *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-