For the four year old Clube Athletico De Parra, it was amomentous occasion, when the club was promoted to the second division earlierthis year. This will mean that now the young team will debut in a divisionmarked by infinitely greater talent and fervour.
For Jerry Lobo, the man responsible for this remarkablefeat, it has been a great experience given that they have experienced hardtimes in the past. He said,” these are young boys who are talented, who havethe desire to do well and they showed that during their match against PVC Parrawhen they won by a solitary goal.”
As with many clubs, finance is a problem. With Rs 1.5 lakhalready being spent during the current season for the matches the team played,Jerry said “well in my days, we would all come together and play for free, butthat is not the case today. I have to pay the boys anywhere between Rs.500 andRs.1000 per match. Sometimes we are not able to participate in villagetournaments, because of lack of funds.”
The team has already provided players like Mangar Desai forthe first division team Dempo in a short frame of time. Jerry hopes there willbe more talent who will be able to move and play with the big clubs in thestate. In all this, the sponsor of the club, Franky Viegas has been of greathelp for the club, he says.
