PANAJI
Rajya Sabha MP Sadanand Tanavade has taken over as the President of the Goa Lacrosse Association (GLA), marking a significant milestone in the Association's journey to expand and professionalise lacrosse in the state.
He will lead a newly constituted committee comprising Tejendra Lawande as Senior Vice President; Jayesh Naik, Naved Tahasildar and Madhavi Shetye as Vice Presidents; Mangesh Pawar as Secretary; Vrushali Cardozo as Treasurer; Bhargav Dessai as Joint Treasurer; and members Amogh Arlekar, Shamsuddin C.K. and Sudesh Gaonker, with Manoj Patil and Gautam Kharangate serving as Advisors.
Addressing the press, President Sadanand Tanavade outlined his vision for the growth of lacrosse in Goa. He highlighted the early success of the Goa Boys and Goa Girls lacrosse teams, both of which clinched silver medals at the National Championships within just two years of the sport being introduced in the state. He emphasised the need to expand lacrosse into schools and every taluka, building a strong grassroots foundation. Tanavade also stressed the importance of leveraging Goa’s robust sports infrastructure, acknowledging the Goa Government for creating facilities that can be effectively utilised for lacrosse development.
The press conference also featured a significant international development. Dmitry Khamin, President of the Russia Lacrosse Federation and two-time World Lacrosse Championship player, announced a proposed India“Russia lacrosse exchange programme, which will enable teams from both nations to visit each other for friendly matches. He will be conducting three to four lacrosse introductory camps for schools across Goa this week, as well as a specialised session for the Goa State players, announced GLA Secretary Mangesh Pawar. Khamin has represented Russia at the World Lacrosse Championships 2014 (USA), 2018 (Israel) and the European Championship 2016 (Hungary).
Gurudatta Bhakta, Secretary General of the Goa Olympic Association, motivated the state’s athletes to pursue excellence with an eye on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, where lacrosse has been included.
Senior Vice President Tejendra Lawande detailed GLA’s bottom-to-top grassroots development model, starting with school-level introduction of the sport, followed by district-level programmes and culminating in state-level progress.
On the occasion, the Goa Lacrosse Association felicitated the Goa teams that brought glory to the state: the Goa Girls team, winners of the Silver Medal at the Junior Nationals 2024 in Agra, and the Goa Boys team, Silver Medallists at the Sub Junior Nationals 2025, also held in Agra. GLA also highlighted that it is an affiliated unit of the Goa Olympic Association and the Lacrosse Association of India, the National Federation recognised by World Lacrosse and acknowledged by the International Olympic Committee.
