PANAJI
Hockey is in spotlight with the organisation of Sub-Junior Nationals at the new astro turf at Peddem. The event has brought together the past and present generation of the players in the State with the new facility being the talking point.
Senior vice-president of Goans Hockey, Farrel Furtado Gracias, is content with the growth of the sport in the State but said hockey needs more government support and another modern facility in South Goa.
"Our hockey field at Fatorda has been used for tennis and in its place we were allocated another area next to the stadium. I appeal to the government to give us this ground at Fatorda. Shripad Naik (Union Minister of State for Tourism) has promised full assistance to lay an astro turf on it and build an academy. Our team under the leadership of Xavier Marquis (Goans Hockey president) will be working on this," Gracias said. "This will be my last struggle because I want to give Goan youth the best from a sport that made me someone in life. I want to see our Goan players in the Olympics as Goa has a tradition of producing excellent hockey players."
Gracias, a former Goa captain, also highlighted the need for more coaches for the sport in Goa. "We definitely need more coaches from the Sports Authority of Goa (SAG). Most of the coaches are based in the north and concentrate on the same schools, and hockey is not promoted elsewhere. The government has to immediately recruit more coaches.
"Our coaches have been doing well in training the players even though there was no astro turf but what is important is that our players lack stamina and interest is shown only during the time of selection trials till the team goes to play and then the touch of the game is lost. The coaches need to motivate and encourage the players to come for fitness and practice daily. A detailed schedule by coaches of the players they work with on a daily basis has to be given to the SAG and monitored by the association members," said Gracias, also a former MLA from the Velim constituency.
The former player also recalled her earlier struggles as an administrator. "I had to fight two legal battles to prove that our association is the original association. Due to the assistance of Churchill Alemao who was the president of the Goans Hockey, I could succeed in retaining the association with the help from Dexter D’Souza and Redento D’Souza. After that we had a good team where Beny Viegas and the team took a lot of trouble in promoting hockey, especially in South Goa.
"Today we are the only association that conducts tournaments at all levels for men and women and also State Championships and zone level and local tournaments. We also had the credit of two players being selected for the India camp. Many of our hockey players are now qualified as technical officials and umpires. The greatest achievement was hosting the 12th Sub-Junior Hockey India Championship where 30 teams from the country participated."
