Sporting Clube de Goa’s Community program finishes on a high

An exciting five-a-side event was organised to bring an end to Sporting Clube de Goa’s U-12 Community football program which was held in partnership with Don Bosco High School at Don Bosco ground, Panjim on Saturday.

The year round youth training initiative took a short break as the young participants prepare for their important end of year exams.

Forty-one players took part in the tournament on the last day, while a total of 76 wards in the U-10 and U-12 category experienced the program during the course of the last academic year.

Football coaching is offered three times a week to Don Bosco students and also neighbouring schools in the capital, to give them an introduction to football regardless of their ability.

The School and professional football club aim to widen the base of participation in the sport at the grassroots level, whilst also focusing on studies.

 This is endeavour is promoted extensively by the principal of Don Bosco High School Fr. Dominic Savio Fernandes as well as the Sporting Clube de Goa president Peter Vaz.

The training conducted by the Flaming Oranje coaches not only teaches the fundamentals of soccer, but also builds self-esteem, demonstrates tolerance, respect and inclusion for all.

It is hoped that the more talented players will eventually be absorbed into the competition age group teams, keeping with Sporting Clube de Goa’s motto of “Growing Goa’s Game!” 

Don Bosco High School lifts Sporting Clube de Goa U-12 trophy

Tournament top scorer, Aman Govekar blasted home the winner as Don Bosco High School, Panjim edged out St Britto’s High School 1-0 in the finals of the 2^nd All Goa U-12 Sporting Clube de Goa football tournament, at Don Bosco ground, Panjim on Saturday.

In total 10 teams participated in the one day seven-a-side soccer festival which started on a great note, as the continuous unexpected rains throughout the night, left the lush soil in perfect condition for the young stars to exhibit their talent.

The schools were divided into two groups with the team’s playing on a league basis. Don Bosco finished top of group “A”, while St Britto’s finished second. In group “B” Loyola’s topped and Fr. Agnel was second. All four teams qualified for the semi finals.

Loyala High School, took third place after overcoming Fr. Agnel Pilar, High School 3-2 via the tie breaker in the third and fourth place play off.  The match ended 1-1 with Samward Pereira scoring for Loyala and Nikhil Shetty netting for Fr. Agnel.

An exhibition match between Sporting Clube de Goa’s community team and Don Bosco ‘B’ team was held before the final which finished in an exciting 2-2 draw.

Winners Don Bosco took home Rs.5,000 and trophy, runners- up St Britto’s received Rs. 3,000 and trophy. Loyala’s collected Rs. 1,500 for finishing third and fourth placed Fr. Agnel were awarded Rs.1,000. All participants were given certificates and the two finalists were given full playing kit.

The following players won individual prizes: Neil Miranda of Loyala’s (most outstanding goalkeeper ), Baggio Mascarenhas of St Britto’s (best defender), Velburn Quadros of St Britto’s (best midfielder), Shannon Viegas of Don Bosco (best striker) and Aman Govekar of Don Bosco (highest goal scorer) .   

Don Bosco High School Prinicipal, Fr. Dominic Savio Fernandes was the chief guest and gave away the winner’s trophy. “The tournament was a splendid advertisement for youth soccer. I want to thank Models chairmen and former pupil of Don Bosco Peter Vaz, for collaborating with the school and sponsoring the event,” remarked Fr. Dominic.

Fr. Igidio Fernandes and Sporting Clube de Goa players Mathew Gonsalves (captain), Freiman Peixote, Angel Berlanga, Juanfri and physio Abhijeet Chatterjee were the guests of honour.

Eddie Noronha compeered and Sporting Clube de Goa CEO Victor Fernandes proposed the vote of thanks. Sporting Goa competitions director Angelo Albuerquerque was also present along with photographer Carlton D’Mello.

Anthony Vaz, Joao Pereira and Ashwin Crasto refereed the matches. Sporting Goa equipment manager Shanu kankonkar was also showered with a token of appreciation for his contribution to the club.

Panjim Footballers crowned GFA All-Goa 3rd division champions

Binatone Singh netted dramatically in the 86^th minute to give Panjim Footballers the title after defeating Guardian Angel Sports Club 1-0 in the All-Goa finals of the 3^rd division league, organised by the Goa Football Association at Duler Stadium, Mapusa, on Sunday. The match was goalless at the interval.

Panjim Footballers, a feeder club for Sporting Clube de Goa consisted fully of their U-18 team and the young unit put up a resilient performance against a strong Guradian Angel side.

Panjim had the lion’s share of chances in the first half, but in the second session experienced started to tell and Guardian Angels strung together some good moves, but fell short in front of goal.

In the 86^th minute, Panjim broke away quickly, catching their opponents on the break, with the ball finding its way to Akeraj Martins and he laid the ball on for Binatone who raced away from his marker and coolly slotted into the bottom corner of the net.

 “The team consists of non-residential academy players and they worked very hard under coach Severino Fernandes and manager Anthony Vaz, but credit also goes to Don Bosco Principal Fr. Domnic Savio for giving the players the opportunity to excel in sport and studies, along with the continued support of Don Bosco PE teacher Francis Raposa,” remarked Panjim Footballers General secretary and Gfa executive member Anju Albuerquerque.

Panjim were awarded the winner’s trophy and cash prize of Rs.20, 000 while the runners up Guardian Angels received a cheque of Rs. 10,000 and trophy. Gfa north vice president Lavinio Rebello gave away the winner’s trophy in the presence of Gfa executive Bardez members Babli Mandraker and Gajanan Kerkar.

Sporting Clube de Goa recruit third Spaniard

In a move to boost their attack, Sporting Clube de Goa has completed the signing of Spanish striker Juan Francisco Garcia Pena, also known as Juanfri, on Thursday in Panjim.

 The 23 year old has previously played for La Liga side Malaga and more recently Ecija Balompie. He started his career with local side Union Deportiva Fuengirola de Los Boliches, before moving to Estepona. “I am looking forward to the new challenge,” remarked Juanfri.

This is the second Spaniard to sign for the Flaming Oranje in little under a week, after defender Angel Berlanga completed his move and scored on his debut in a 2-0 victory over Salgaocar on Monday.

“It was a dream to score on my debut in front of our supporters. I am hungry to help my new team mates win and the club to climb the ladder,” stated Angel.

Angel has previously played for New Zealand champions Auckland City, who represented the Oceania region at the last two Fifa World Club Cups. On both occasions they were knocked out at the first hurdle by Japanese outfits Kashiwar Reysol and the following year Sanfreece Hiroshima.

“Although we did not do so well, it was a fantastic experience and was also nice to sample a new culture,” said Angel. This is not Angel’s first trip to India as he came on holiday to Rajasthan last year and simply fell in love with the country and its people.

“Capturing the signatures of Angel and Juanfri is great news for the club, they will add a sprinkle of Spanish flavour to a team which is bursting with local Goan talent who make up the core of the team”, summed up Sporting Goa coach Oscar Bruzon.

1st Sporting Clube de Goa bowling tournament held

With a score of 168 points, king pin Sahil Bhurani of Mira Mar, took top honours in the 1st Sporting Clube de Goa ten-pin bowling tournament, organized by Youth of Panjim YMCA, at Caculo mall, St Inez on Liberation day

The competition was played on a ranking basis with each participant allotted twenty bowls each to get the highest strike rate possible.

Allwyn Albert from Panjim finished a close runner up with 162 points, followed by Neel Sanzgiri from Merces who took third place with 156 points.

With the day being a public holiday a large crowd gathered to witness the event and 140 participants travelled from all over Goa to take part in the exciting one day contest.

The chief guest was professional footballer, Mohammed Ali who had captained the winning Sporting Clube de Goa team, in last season’s GFA Taca Goa U-20 league.

Also present on the occasion, was engineer Sheldon Martins, who is the Vice President of YMCA, Panjim district, Advocate Joseph Vaz who is the Chairperson of YMCA, Western region and players of Panjim based football outfit Sporting Clube de Goa.

Compere Joshua Vaz thanked all the sponsors and made a special mention of title sponsor Sporting Clube de Goa, “Thanks to Mr Peter Vaz, president of Sporting Clube de Goa and managing director of Models Constructions for believing in the concept and not only promoting alternative sports, but also boosting youthful enterprise,” remarked Joshua.

College students, Rafuishaan D’sa, Joshua Vaz, Idraram Mistry & Sidharth Mendonsa organized the first of its kind initiative in Goa.

Sporting Clube de Goa celebrate fan day

On the auspicious date of 12.12.12, Sporting Clube de Goa decided to dedicate the day to their fans; after all it’s the 12th man that makes all the difference on the football field.

A large group of Sporting Goa player’s took time out from their rigorous training schedule, to visit the Batista orphanage in Santa Cruz.

The children excitedly waited anxiously at the front of the gate, as the players emerged from their vehicles. Once the youngsters were introduced to the players they sat down and played a pulsating game of carom.

It would have been easy for the Sporting Goa players to let their young opponents win, but true to their competitive nature they played tough and came away with a narrow victory.

 Afterwards the Sporting Goa players distributed refreshments and the young Batista boys reciprocated by singing some beautiful rhymes for their visitors. In the past the boys have even come up with their own version of the Flaming Oranje anthem.

Later in the day the Sporting Goa players moved to the football ground to demonstrate some silky skills to another set of fans. The young player’s happily showed up in Sporting Goa kit, which was sponsored last year by the Sporting Goa president Peter Vaz.

After the players showed of their favourite show boating tricks, they were taken by surprise when one of the youngsters started to juggle the ball in an exquisite manner.

As the day came to a close the young wards shook hands with the Sporting Goa players as it was time to say goodbye until the next time.

Swedish coach Johan Kalin conducts talk on grass roots football

“As many possible, as much as possible, as good as possible,” was the message sent out by Swedish coach Johan Kalin, addressing the BPEd students of Don Bosco with a special grass roots football talk highlighting  the Swedish model, at Don Bosco School, on Tuesday. The seminar was organised by Sporting Clube de Goa in association with the BPEd college.

Elaborating further he said that the Swedish Model encourages as many youngsters as possible to take to the game of football at a young age regardless of their ability or background.

The next stage is to allow the participants to play as much as possible. “If a child can commit to three sessions a week that’s good, but if a youngster can only play once a week that’s o.k. as well,” stated the UEFA “A” licence diploma holder Johan.

Johan further enlightened that it is up to the coach to think like the age of the player he is coaching and set appropriate goals in order to make the ward as good as possible.

Johan highlighted the work he routinely carries out for the Swedish FA in his region of the country, with courses regularly organised teaching leadership skills, game intelligence, technique and physical aspects along with goalkeeping. He also is a Uefa instructor conducting Uefa “B” level courses.

The Swedish model concentrates on using football as a tool not only for teaching football skills but also stresses on character building. “Most of the young players know how challenging it is to make it to the top and so it is important to have a well-rounded personality with interest in studies as well,” remarked the 35 year old Johan.

Former women’s Swedish footballer Susann Jatkin also spoke on the occasion about the healthy state of women’s football in Sweden and that girl’s are encouraged just as much as boys take up the game and enjoy it in a fun environment.

Johan concluded the session, by explaining that along with the FA, the government plays a big role in soccer success. But he believes it is the parents who play the biggest role as it is their perseverance and hours sacrificed taking their children to practice and also doubling up as community coaching volunteers which gives youth development a huge boost.

The students of the college had many relevant questions to ask Johan and Susann and were thoroughly pleased with the interactive discussion.

BPEd principal Dr. Marie Raj was the chief guest and Fr. Wilred Fernandes was the guest of honour.