Cuncolim Association Mumbai the big brother of Cuncolim Union
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We swept everything in view in the period between 2003- 2005. That was the golden period for the club. And, it was a proud moment for me to watch three of my villagers Mahesh Gawli, Freddy Mascarenhas and Micky Fernandes playing in the first eleven of the Goa team which won the Santosh trophy in Kerala in 2005. A year later, the two Fredy and Micky joined Gawli to represent the Bhangra boys in a Canadian tournament- an achievement to see three boys from one small village of India play together for the country.
http://oheraldo.in/news/Sports/Cuncolim-Union-rsquo-s-dream-come-true/48338.html
http://digitaljournal.com/article/272301
Cuncolim Union’s vision to have a building of its own finally come true, when the Rs 65 lakh club house-cum-sports complex was inaugurated by Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court, Justice Ferdino Rebello on May 21 at Zulpea Xeth, Cuncolim at 5 p.m.
“Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan”. That holds true for Cuncolim Union. Like every club which passes through a turbulent phase, Cuncolim Union too fished in troubled waters.
Election played a spoil sport somewhere in the late 80’s. Ramakant Angle, who years later became a Member of Parliament, wanted to fish in the troubled Cuncolim politics. Angle had tasted success at the Cuncolim panchayat level politics through the toss of coin defeating Wellington Dias. So Angle wanted to graduate to bigger things and Cuncolim Union was one such platform for the banker turned miner.
But his high ambitions were grounded, albeit prematurely at Cuncolim Union by another politician Moti Dessai.
Defeat is an orphan for some but for Angle and his supporters it gave birth to Cuncolim Gymkhana. Moti, the diamond, tried to provide the silver lining at Cuncolim Union but for not for long. Slowly the Union disintegrated.
Within six months of the election fiasco Cuncolim Union were not fielding any teams in the popular version of the Goan football called as inter-village football tournament.
No one took the initiative to revive the club or field the team. The club existed only on paper and it had virtually become defunct.
On the other side Cuncolim Gymkhana flourished for four years and it too ceased to exist. Thus, there was a vacuum and Cuncolim’s football participation on the inter-village scene. Football development had ceased to exist in Cuncolim.
However, somewhere in the mid 90’s the Cuncolim Union ground controversy brought together the members of the Union together and a plan of action was chalked out to revive the club.
Former deputy collector and Mamtaldar Armando Barbosa was elected the president.The new committee headed by Barbosa had an absolute zero budget at their disposal.
But, help came in the form of Cuncolim Association Mumbai. The Cuncolim club based in the metropolis provide succor for the budding footballers for the next ten years, doling out Rs.10,000/-.
Cuncolim Union first started with the age group teams and graduated to play in the inter-village tournament, but with limited success.
We won a tournament here and there. But, the core lesson was to retain the players. And we succeeded. From perennial beaters to winners the transformation was not easy. But we did it. We swept everything in view in the period between 2003- 2005. That was the golden period for the club.
And it was a proud moment for me to watch three of my villagers Mahesh Gawli, Freddy Mascarenhas and Micky Fernandes playing in the first eleven of the Goa team which won the Santosh trophy in Kerala in 2005. A year later, the two Fredy and Micky joined Gawli to represent the Bhangra boys in a Canadian tournament- an achievement in itself to see three boys from one small village of India play together for the country.
That was the high point of the efforts I spend at Cuncolim for close to fifteen years nurturing the youth development programme along with Chief Coach levino Dias, seven-times Goa junior team manager Zephyrus Mascarnahas and Philip Coutinho , Ex-Mahindra player.
And it was a wonderful sight to see young children starting from nine to 18 years getting training under the overall guidance of Levino, during the summer and Diwali vacation camp, the camps which were conducted from 1991 to 2004.
Many a promising youngsters were spotted during the camps. Some went on to play for some of the big clubs like Wesley Coutinho and Drupesh Dessai, while others learnt valuable lesson of life on the football field. Youths from neighboring villages also benefited from the summer and Diwali camps, names of two such talented boys from Ambelim spring to my mind Standly Fernandes and Samson Fernandes.
And it will not be out of place to thank people who contributed to the success of Cuncolim Union one of them is current Goa Football Association Executive secretary Alberto Colaco. Help also came from Cuncolim MLA Joaquim alemao, SAG director VM Prabhudessai, besides the physical education teachers of the Cuncolim schools and higher secondary’s and of course the head of the educational institutes in running the youth programmes. The players who were spotted during the period are now playing for Cuncolim and one of them for a professional I league club Kennen Almeida.
Besides the core comiitte of Cuncolim Association Mumbai comprising of Advocate David Gomes, Robin Almeida, Benis Coutinho, Tony Coutinho to name a few of them.
Incidentally, a foundation stone too was laid at the hands of present chief justice of Allahabad High Court Ferdino Rebello for the construction of a club house but the project did not materialize due to technical reasons.
Thereafter, former chairperson of Cuncolim municipality Ramesh Dessai took upon the challenge but he too failed miserably, until, former tourism director Elvis Gomes pulled all his aces to have the new club house delivered.
Over the years, many things have changed both on the personal and club front. The long cherished dream of Cuncolim residents has been fulfilled. But, the challenge has just begun. The task of maintain the building and taking care that it is does not become a white elephant is better said than done.
Youth development is thankless job in Goa, everybody wants instant results. The Cuncolim Union will have to strike a balance in maintaining the ground and drawing a timetable for practice besides taking care to keep the intruders away.
I enjoyed my time at Cuncolim Union but had to live with a ting of sadness.
Viva Goa, via Cuncolim, Viva Cuncolkars
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