Cuncolim, Salcete: Cuncolim hockey has been on the upswing in the last few months but that has nothing to do with Goans Hockey and its officials. All the hockey youth development which has been set rolling in Cuncolim has been possible due to the efforts of some dedicated men and women of the village under the banner of Cuncolim Hockey Club.
Cuncolim hockey which was in the cold storage for the last few years has been again on the track. All that has been possible due to the tiring efforts of coach Glestone Fernandes, who has been literally eating, sleeping and dreaming about developing hockey in Cuncolim and the surrounding villages.
Glestone efforts has been supplemented by the men and women of the village based in Goa and elsewhere in India and also those based outside India in terms of funds and equipment.
The parents have pitched to help in the paper work of the club and also helping in cleaning and mopping up the basketball court which the boys and girls of the village have been using for the practice every Sunday.
Although Goans Hockey have three officials on its Executive Committee, Vice President Farrel Furtado e Gracias, Treasurer Valanka D’Souza and member Pearl Fernandes with Cuncolim connection none of them have any role to play in the hockey movement which is taking place in Cuncolim.
The troika have another common Cuncolim connection in the form of Maria Bambina Convent High School and Higher Secondary Convent Cuncolim, Farrel, the Velim ex-MLA is a teacher in the school while Valanka is a Physical Education teacher while Pearl Fernandes was an ex-student at the same institute and is now based in Bangalore for the last one and half year.
Information listed on the Goans Hockey website says Valanka is the President of Bambina Recreational Club and Pearl is the Secretary.
Attempts to get in touch with Valanka to get to know the activities of her Bambina Recreational Club proved futile as she did not respond to phone calls or messages.
Pearl on the other hand was forthright in admitting that she has no clue about the activities conducted by Bambina Recreational Club as she was away in Bangalore for the last 18 months.
The bio listed on Goans Hockey website of pearl says:” Executive Member: Ms Pearl Fernandes former hockey player, now organises tournaments.”
Inquiries within hockey circles revealed she had represented Goa in the Sub junior nationals but as far as organizing any tournaments they do not remember a single tournament in which she had any role to play.
Valanka’s profile says treasurer: Ms Valanka D'souza, a national hockey player, presently working as physical education teacher at Maria Bambina Convent, Cuncolim, has been training the school girls for the last few years.
She has been a hockey player and hails from Velsao village and a PE teacher and may be training her school students in hockey but how regularly her Cuncolim convent school has been taking part in the Directorate of Sports and Youth affairs hockey and other sporting events is a debatable thing and worth scratching the surface to find out the facts.
That will happen the facts and figures of Bambina Recreational Club and other dummy clubs registered under the Goans Hockey is will be laid bare one by one…..that’s a challenge and all this is done to remove all the rot which has set in the administration of Goans hockey, blame it on the power hungry Goan politicians which have been hanging on Goans hockey and doing nothing for its development.
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