Jose Pereira, the only Goan to have officiated at Wimbledon and Olympics, is
longing to see the state nurture tennis talent 03 August 2013Football and Goa,
lots to write about. Tennis and Goa, not much. Tennis academies in Goa, even
less. Government support for Tennis, absolutely nothing to write about. That’s
the state of tennis in Goa. But despite these conditions, the state does have
some aces up its sleeves.Natasha Palha, the upcoming Goan player on the ITF
Women's circuit, is an ace well known, a top ten player in India. Jose (Joseph)
Pereira, another tennis celebrity, but not that familiar in the circuit though.
He has been to the Olympics, Wimbledon and many first tier tennis
championships, but Pereira is not a player. He is an ITF certified White Badge
official (Chair umpire, Referee and Line umpire).Hailing from a quaint village
in Tivim, Pereira in his early fifties is the only Goan ever to officiate at
the Olympics and Wimbledon and probably one of the few NRIs in the world to
hold a White Badge as he got his certification done in Qatar where he is
employed as a technician with the Ministry of Municipality and Urban
Planning.“Going to Wimbledon and the London Olympics was like a dream come true
for me,” revealed the umpire who flew down to Goa on a holiday after
officiating at Wimbledon last month. He was the chair umpire for the ITF Junior
championship, LTA, Wild card and Junior qualifiers at Roehampton, UK, while a
line umpire for the Men’s and Women’s Qualifiers at Wimbledon. He also
officiated at the ITF Futures in Manchester during the same period.“I have
chaired for top players from Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Pat Cash
and has been the line official for most men and women players in the world,”
said the father for three who rates the Wimbledon experience as his best. “I
was the first official to get selected into the main draw from the qualifiers.
It never happens. One has to officiate for 5 to 6 years in the qualifiers to
move to the main draw. Only 8 officials from around 250 move up and I felt
highly honoured.”Having chaired over 1000 international matches and an equal
number of other matches, Periera’s entry into the sport was rather unusual. He
was not a tennis player but a footballer like most Goans. He played in all the
local leagues in Qatar and his forte was the defence position. But things
changed in 1993. “I went to watch the Qatar Open in 1993 and while the games
were going on I was wondering what it could take to be a line umpire. A few
days later I noticed an advertisement in the local daily calling for people to
be line umpires for the following year’s tournament. I applied and was given a
short course by ATP officials on line umpiring.” Four years down the line, on
March 27, 1997, Pereira was awarded the ITF White Badge representing Qatar
Tennis Federation.Making a transition from football to tennis, though, was not
that easy for him. “After I became an official, I thought I should learn
tennis, so I started taking training session with a top Davis Cup Player from
Philippines living in Qatar, and have been playing ever since,” disclosed
Pereira who now conducts coaching classes for young players in Qatar. For the
records, his last football match was in 2000 in the Qatar Expatriate League,
which mean tennis is his new found passion.“I love officiating. It’s my
passion. I get a lot of opportunity to take up coaching, but I prefer the
chair,” he said adding that Goa has a long way to go if it needs to be a
contender in the sport. “Goa needs atleast 5 tennis courts to start with. We
have a top player like Natasha in Goa and we don’t even have a single public
court. It’s a shame. I do not know what the government plan is for the National
Games next year, but they will need good standard tennis courts like those in
Bangalore,” urged Pereira whose son Joshua was the runners-up in the U-10 All
Goa tennis tournament last year.“The sad part is that Goa is far behind other
states in India in tennis facilities. My son has to come all the way from Tivim
to Hotshots Academy, Miramar to be trained under Valentine D’Silva. I hope the
National Games next year in Goa will give the state a few good tennis courts. I
am willing to render my full administrative support, if I am approached to do
so.”“If facilities are made available in Goa, it could become India’s best
tennis venues, because all tennis players love to come to Goa. India has over
36 weeks of international tennis annually, some of which could be played in
Goa,” said the international ITF official who dreams of having more tennis
players from Goa in the years to come.Wimbledon and Olympics, what’s next? “I
have a lot of scope in India, if I retire from Qatar. In the meanwhile I will
continue officiating,” Pereira answers while enjoying the Goan monsoons.
