MARGAO
From humble beginnings to the gold rush at the National Games. That’s the Goa story revolving around the game of sepak takraw in which the hosts have laid their hands on six gold medals, one silver and a bronze each.
It was in 1998, that Krishna Karade, the then Physical Education teacher at Cuncolim Educational Society Higher Secondary introduced the game to Goa. The baby steps in the game were taken on the volleyball court on the campus of Cuncolim Educational Society (CES). The volleyball court was converted into a sepak takraw court. Thanks to the support and encouragement of late Pio Lourenco, the then Chairman of CES, Karade's introduction of the game was a smooth one.
Unfortunately, the volleyball court of CES campus, from which the game rose is history with the new management getting rid of it in the pursuit to expand the campus and add new wings.
Recalling the days, Karade said: “The volleyball court was built and marked by me for the higher secondary and college students with the cooperation and support of Advocate Pio Lourenco.
"He never said no to any sporting plans after it was explained to him in detail about how it will help CES students and Cuncolim sportspersons,” recalled Karade, who was a cricket fast bowler during his playing days.
Karade did not confine himself to just his pet game of cricket but, as a physical education teacher, he promoted his students to the hilt in different sports and sometimes went out of his way to back them, groom them and also recommended them to sports clubs in different games.
It was his passion for sports and different games that made him bring the game of sepak takraw to Cuncolim first, and of the many students who played the game in the village were his two sons. With the passage of time, one has devoted his life to sports and become a physical education teacher while Karade's other son is a mechanical engineer.
“Yes, my two sons were among the players who took first steps in sepak takraw in Cuncolim in 1998,” informed Karade, with one of the players of the Goa team which took part in the National Games.
The initial days for sepak takraw were full of challenges on and off the field, both which Karade overcame thanks to the dedicated team which was around him; one of them being the current secretary of Goa Sepak Takraw Association, Suraj Dessai. “Suraj has been with the association from the start; he has seen it all. How we started and how we have grown over the years,” Karade said.
Yes, indeed they have grown. From Cuncolim they spread their wings, held camps in various villages and talukas and introduced the game through school students in Quepem taluka followed by other talukas.
The task was not easy off the field. "For the first two years when you form any sports association and register with Sports Authority of Goa you do not receive any funds," said Karade, who had to reach out to people who had interest and passion to support and promote the game.
Former Quepem MLA Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar was requested to be part of the committee and from there on sepak takraw's off-field worries were a thing of the past.
Kavlekar has been an integral part of the game in Goa since 1998 and also at the national level in recent years. He knows quite a bit of the sport and its finer points. “Yes, it’s a very skill-heavy game; not everybody can play it. It is an interesting game and people fall in love with the game once they watch the action,” Kavlekar had said earlier.
On the coaching front, Karade brought in qualified coaches from Manipur regularly to guide and teach the players from Goa the skills and techniques required to take the game to the next level.
