Sent from my iPad > This is the Revised and Corrected copyI sent the editors of OHeraldo on Sep > 10 at around 10:30 am Toronto time. But I was surprised that the old copy is > used in today's paper. ------- > Decline of Goans in sports > Eugene Correia > > It’s an undeniable fact that there’s lot of politics in our sport. In the > wake of India’s success, however short the tally was than expected, many > columns have been written about India’s showing in Rio. But the Goan > contribution to the sporting culture of the land has gone down slowly. The > Rio Olympics may be seen as a beacon that should light the way to future > success at not only the Olympics but at international events. Despite our > failure to repeat the golden success at Beijing, where Abhinav Bindra got a > gold medal in 10m air rifle shooting, we came with a silver and a bronze. > Yes, we lost medals by a whisker in some events. We can pat our backs now for > being a “whiskered” nation. > > Some said we lost to Belgium in field hockey by a whisker, though we lost > 1-3. But it was the second loss to Belgium, as we indeed lost by a whisker, > going down1-2, in the Champions Trophy in June. To remind ourselves, India > lost by 0-3 to Belgium in the 2012 London Olympics. However, India came > second to Australia in the Champions Trophy and much was expected from the > team at Rio. Since 1980 Moscow Olympics, which were boycotted by the western > hemisphere nations, India has failed to win gold, and hit the nadir at London > when he lost 2-3 to South Africa, and finished at rock-bottom — 12th. > > We don’t need to look back at our glorious hockey history, but we must know > that other nations have not only kept pace but outrun us. In a way, politics > has come into play into the boardroom of the Indian hockey association. It’s > not news anymore, for the infighting and intrigue in the Indian Hockey > Federation (IHF) has taken place before. The IHF under KPS Gill was suspended > by the India Olympic Association in 2008 because of bribery allegations > against the secretary in selecting players. So much so, the Supreme Court > played referee, and now the executive committee has members from both bodies, > Hockey India and IHF. > > Talking of Indian sporting history and looking at it from the Goan > perspective, I am sad that no Goan made to the Rio Olympics, both in the > men’s and women’s hockey teams. For sporting history buffs, the first Goan in > the Olympics was Peter Paul Fernandes, of Karachi, who went with the Indian > team for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, along with the legend, Dyand Chand, and > his brother Roop Chand. Dyand and Roop formed a formidable duo in the forward > line which ruled out the Goan Johnny Pinto, a marginally better player than > Roop. > > The last time a Goan represented India was in the 1988 Seoul Olympics, with > Merwyn Fernandes, scoring a hat-trick of playing in three Olympics. In the > 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Merwyn had company of Joaquim Carvalho and > Marcellus Gomes, while he was the lone Goan in the 1980 Moscow men’s gold > medal winning team. But he had company of four Goans — Margaret Toscano, > Eliza Nelson (nee Mendonca), Selma D’Silva and Lorraine Fernandes — in the > women’s team. Lorraine achieved the unique feat of a daughter imitating her > father, Lawrie Fernandes, who played in the 1948 Olympics. Another pair of a > parent and ward duo earning Olympic distinction is Vece Paes and tennis star > Leander Paes, who recently played in his 7th Olympics in Rio, earning an > exalted place in India’s sporting history. Vece was member of the Indian > bronze-medal hockey team in the 1972 Munich Olympics while Leander won the > bronze medal in the men’s singles at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Also standing > high on the pedestal is the master footballer player, Neville de Souza, who > remains the only Indian and Asian to score a hat-trick in the Olympics, > achieving the feat against Australia, the hosts of the 1956 Olympics in > Melbourne. > > Lawrie was one of the five Goans in the gold-medal winning team. The others > were Walter D’Souza, Leo Pinto, Reginald Fernandes and Maxie Vaz. Will this > piece of Goan history ever be repeated again? I doubt so. As much as the > Goans have disappeared from the national scene, so have the Anglo-Indians. > The Anglos were in equal number to the Goans in the 1948 team. As the > Anglo-India community in India has diminished because of younger generation > migrating to foreign lands, just as former India goalkeeper Mark Patterson > (1988) did so when he went to Australia. Has Goan overseas migration, > particularly the youth because of lack of job opportunities in Goa, with the > blessing of Portuguese passports drained Goa of sports talent? The answer is > not easily available because of lack of data. > > As Ronojit Sen writes in his book, Nation at Play — A history of sport in > India, published in 2015, about the team for the 1928 Olympics, “The team > that won the first of India’s many gold medals in hockey contained a majority > of Anglo-Indians and a sprinkling of players from the communities. Indeed, > the team was a good example of the formative role played by Anglo-Indians in > the growth of hockey in India.” > > If the Anglo-Indians were prominent in Bengal, so were Goans in Bombay. The > Lusitanians was made up of mostly Goans, and players like Lawrie, Walter, > Reginald and Maxie wore Lusitanians colours. The Lusis once ruled Bombay > hockey, winning the prestigious Aga Khan tournament many times. It’s > unfortunate that the team has gone off the map of Indian hockey. It also > seems that Goans have lagged behind in making the ranks in both the men’s and > women’s teams. As a matter of fact, Goans have shown a slow decline in all > sporting fields and games in Bombay. Schools and clubs, such as Lusitanians > and Goans Sports, were nurseries of talent in the Goan community in Bombay. > > Founder-secretary of Goan Sports, Aniceto Fernandes, was also responsible in > giving men’s and women’s hockey a push in Goa, as he remotely-controlled both > associations from Bombay. His influence also extended to football. I remember > the time when the hockey players in Goa wanted to take over the women’s > association and they had approached Herculano Dourado, a former MLA. Dourado, > an advocate and a sportsman, eventually became the President of the Goa > Hockey Association, but failed to bring any worthwhile change. > Unfortunately, hockey never flourished in Goa. I remember watching Goa’s > Loretta D’Souza, the nippy goalkeeper, who made the Indian pre-Olympic team > in 1980, in the camp for probables at Pune for the Moscow Olympics. I also > remember the impressive football skills of Yolanda D’Souza at a tournament in > Pune, showing the genes of her father, Joveniano de Souza, a sturdy Tata > player. > > Goa is football-land, and Goa’s standing in this game at the national level > is strong. Many Goans, both from Goa and from Bombay, have donned India’s > jerseys. The mess in Goa cricket, from “ticket-gate” to the current fraud > allegations is sickening to say the least. Can sport be left untouched by > corruption that has spread to Goa? The Modi government has initiated a task > force to prepare India for the future Olympics. It seems an onerous task, > given the meddling by politicians in sports bodies, which are mostly headed > by non-sportspersons. The BCCI issue is a case in point. Thanks for the Lodha > panel’s strictures and recommendations, the BCCI has been forced to iron out > its wrinkles. I hope this strong action over the BCCI is a lesson for > cleaning up the Augean stables of all sports associations. > > The great American swimmer Mark Spitz recently remarked that India should > hold the Olympics so as to inspire its young generation. Spitz perhaps > doesn’t know about the scandal that followed the hosting of the Commonwealth > Games. A senior politician, Suresh Kalmadi, was marched off to jail for the > skullduggery that enveloped the Games. The press reports on sports minister > Vijay Goel’s behaviour in Rio, and his gaffe in saying Sindhu and Sakshi are > Rio “gold-medallists” deserves not only condemnation but ouster from his post > in the government. The struggle for empowerment of women has received the > much-need boost in the women winning medals and their performance in Rio. > > The best example of nepotism, parochialism and politics in our sports is the > denial of renaming the Brabourne Stadium with the name of Anthony de Mello, > one of India’s finest and foremost sports administrators. The Karachi-born > Goan was the brain behind the founding of the BCCI and one of the founders of > the Cricket Club of India (CCI). While Bombay has become Mumbai, and many > streets and historic places that bore the names of British rulers have been > renamed with names of Indian leaders, the Brabourne Stadium still carries the > name of the British governor of Bombay. The only honour given to Anthony de > Mello is that a large photo of him is on the wall in the lobby of the CCI. > Anthony was the first secretary of BCCi and later its president. He was also > president of the Bombay Presidency Olympic Association. and founder of Asian > Games. > > In his book, Portrait of Indian Sport, published in 1050, Anthony writes, > “Already India has accomplished much, but the best is yet to come….. Of the > present I must write with disappointment; for a complexity of reasons > sporting promise has not yet been fulfilled.” It is my wish, and I hope it’s > the wish of all Goans, that the powers-that-be at the CCI should rename the > stadium as de Mello Stadium in due recognition to a man whose sole goal was > to establish India as a sporting power. > > > > — 30 — > > > > > > <MyColumnSept 12.docx>
