A pioneer in Rugby in the State, Anish Quenim is a professional Rugby player for the last nine years. He has the distinction of winning a silver medal at the World Club Championship representing Middle East in November 2014. Set to debut for Goa later this year, the 30-year-old Rugby pioneer, coach cum player of Goa who also holds office as President, Goa Rugby and Vice President, Touch Rugby Federation of India (TRFI) chatted up with Basil Sylvester Pinto in an exclusive with The Goan Everyday.
Excerpts:
Q: How did the concept of introducing Rugby in Goa germinate?
AQ: In 2011, I met some Rugby enthusiasts at Bombay Gymkhana who manage Contact Rugby Federation and they had plans to launch Contact Rugby in Goa in 2011. Unfortunately, when I came back, I met with an accident. I stayed medically unfit for almost two-and-a-half-years to teach the sport. In the meanwhile, I did a bit of research and realized that instead of launching the physical version coming to Goa, might as well launch the version which is a stepping stone to Contact and is called Touch. The rules are pretty much the same but much faster and the only point of contact is Touch.
Q: So when did Goa Rugby get going?
AQ: Goa Touch, a society managed by Goa Rugby was launched in June 2014. I started with the real grass-root development of Goa Rugby by experimenting with camps for schools. We had a big tournament in December 2014 at Campal Ground, Panjim. Post that in 2015, we decided to break Goa into different zones “ North, South, East and West and formed Clubs each managing their respective zones. We also launched Goa Schools Touch League (GSTL) and Goa Touch League (GTL) with each Club managing these Leagues. Each Club are allocated with a certain number of schools, villages, churches, tourist belt under which they are given a charter to ensure that development happens for this category or group through the whole year. That all came together at the Fatorda Stadium right after the last ISL where we had the GSTL and GTL , semi-finals and finals. Some of the best School and Club teams from across Goa came to Fatorda Stadium and competed. Since our development was so noticed all over social media, we got a call from the Middle East/ UAE team and they challenged us to a game in Fatorda right after the two Leagues. This was the same team that played the World Cup in Australia and came in the top 5. The Middle East said they wanted to come to Goa and play against the Goa team. The home side lost narrowly 6-4. Playing against a World Cup side and losing by a small margin gives us a lot of potential to work harder and come back to play against the rest of the country or the rest of the world. The Middle East team played against us on December 27 last year with their second team comprising mostly of players and coaches because their main team was getting ready to play another tournament in England. These players also assisted us in refereeing the whole day for the Goa Leagues. They even held camps with the students of the State. The Goans gained a lot of exposure by playing and spending time with these players. With such a big response and our players being ready, Goa Rugby Union, a society managed by Goa Rugby will be launched in June 2017.
Q: Tell us more about the Four Clubs …
AQ: There are four - in the North, South, East and West. The North Club known as Crazy Pirates has 19-year-old Kaniel D’Souza in charge. He handles the areas of Mapusa, Guirim, Sinquerim, Candolim, Calangute, Baga, Anjuna, Vagator, Siolim, Pernem, Colvale and Morjim belt. The South-based Club called the Croco Tryles is managed by three “ Brandon Crasto, Melvin Fernandes (both 18) and myself which includes Pilar, Agacaim, Goa Velha, Cortalim, Chicalim, Vasco, Baina, Nagoa, Verna, Nuvem, Maina, Curtorim and Margao. The East called the Saints has Aaron D’Souza in charge. Though he is based in England he is in constant touch with coaches under him through online means to keep in touch with the progress and comes down to Goa once every two months. Under his jurisdiction, come Old Goa, Ribandar, Divar, St. Estevam, Sanquelim and Ponda. The West Zone known as Trymates is handled by 19-year-olds, Numan Shaikh and Tej Shirodkar. Under their area, come Bambolim, Dona Paula, Panjim, Miramar, Taleigao, Porvorim, Merces and Santa Cruz. Live on social media, they have their updates daily on Facebook and Twitter. Every Club is self-funded. We charge every player a yearly fee of Rs. 350, Rs 150 towards registration to the Federation and Rs 200 remains with the Club which goes towards managing and paying the coaches. Also each Club has their own set of sponsors that fund the Club.
Q: What is the difference between GSTL and GTL?
AQ: Goa Schools Touch League (GSTL) is where schools of the age-groups - U-10, U-13 and U-17 (boys, girls, mixed) play the League and are managed by the four Clubs. So it is a tournament where a school plays against another school in that age category. On the other hand, Goa Touch League (GTL) is basically a Club Tournament for the U-10, U-13, U-17 (boys, girls, mixed) and Seniors (men’s, women’s, mixed). The best players of all the schools are selected to play for the respective Club they come under. For example, if I have 1000 players that I teach in the U-13 category among all schools in South Goa, the best 14 of that Category will play for my Club.
Q: How has the response been with schools to Touch Rugby?
AQ: Under GSTL, we have trained 76 schools in four zones. We staged knockouts for over two-and-a-half months. We were finally left with four teams from each category which played the semi-finals and finals at Fatorda. Out of that most of the trophies went to the Club from the South. Thereby, South Goa is the current Champions of GSTL. Whereas, in GSTL, the Senior Team Champion is from the North.
Q: What is a typical season like?
AQ: The season is from June until December. We do not have any tournaments during the rains. We have our training from June until November with our tournaments normally in December. But this year, we are having two big tournaments.
Q: Tell us about these two big tournaments...
AQ: For the very first time in the world we will be organizing Halloween Touch Rugby which will be on October 31. A GTL Tourney, the best of U-10, U-13, U-13 Boys, Girls and Mixed and Seniors “ Men’s, Women’s and Mixed categories will compete at Fr. Agnel Ground, Verna from 8 am to 5 pm. All team players will be attired in the Halloween theme complete with make-up. The other Tournament is the Christmas Touch will be held on December 16 at Duler Stadium, Mapusa. A GSTL Tournament, the best of the schools from across the four zones will battle out in the semi-finals and finals on the aforementioned date. The knockouts for the Tournament will be held in the last week of November. After the GSTL, there will be 12 exhibition games and three finals played between the GTL Senior players in Men’s, Women’s and Mixed Categories. There will also be a Club Trophy as well.
Q: And the road-map ahead?
AQ: The Goa Team will be having a camp from December 19-23. John Larkins (New Zealand), a coach of the Middle East team who will be coming down for the Christmas Touch will conduct a camp for the Goa team. The Goa Team would be leaving for Raipur, Chattisgarh on December 25 to play the All India Nationals organized by Touch Rugby Federation of India (TRFI) in association with Federation of International Touch (FIT) from December 27-29. This would be the 10th Nationals with Goa participating for the first time in two categories - Men and Women. There would be 20 States participating and selectors from Team India and FIT would be present to choose the Youth world Cup team for India that will play in Malaysia in 2018 and the Touch World Cup in Malaysia in 2019.
Q: When were the teams selected for the Nationals and how are they preparing themselves?
AQ: The teams were selected two weeks earlier, 15 in the Men’s Category and 13 in the Women’s. From 5-7 pm every day at Miramar Beach they undergo their training. Two international coaches from Wales, Dave and Belinda Trotter have begun to train them since the last two Saturdays while their fitness coach, Yogita Bali, who was part of the Olympic Women’s Hockey squad training in Rio will join the team for the Nationals. While the youngest player in the Goa Team is aged 16, their most senior player is 30. They have come through the grass-root development spread across the four Clubs.
