MARGAO
The International Women’s Day programme was celebrated as 150 players, past and present, assembled at the Rosary Ground, Navelim. There were over a dozen international players above 50, not only from Goa but also from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
The outstation players were in the India Blues, the Goan international as Whites, ex-national players as Greens and all-India Inter University winning team players as Orange. There was the YFA super moms team with its 20 members giving a run for the money to the younger lot in the league.
The event was organised by the Karuna Football Foundation and was powered by Geno Pharmaceuticals and Vedanta Group. Maymol Rocky, former women’s national team coach and international player, herself was short of words for what she felt on the occasion.
The teams, FC Goa, Telaulim, YFA and the hosts Compassion FA, participated on the second field and were able to have a feel of the competition after a break of almost three months due to the third wave of Covid-19 which had stopped the Goan League. The theme for the event chosen by the organisers was “Women have the Right to Play” and it was dedicated to prayer for World Peace in the light of the Russia and Ukraine war that has taken the world’s centre stage.
