02 Aug 2020  |   06:20am IST

Residential football academies to restart in Goa after schools re-open

AUGUSTO RODRIGUES

PANJIM: The three residential football academies in Goa--Sesa Football Academy, Goa Football Development Council (GFDC) and the Dempo SC--are set to restart operations with the opening of schools , with students from all the academies presently adhering to online classes from their respective schools.

The three academies have boys from all over Goa and each academy adopts one school. Boys from Dempo SC go to Fr Agnel HS in Pilar, wards from GFDC go to Holy Spirit Institute in Margao while the SFA boys attend the school in Sanquelim.

“We have boys from all over Goa and once school starts it will neither be possible for them to attend school from their homes nor is it feasible to provide transport for all,” Melroy Moura head of Operations of SFA told Herald. 

“We will be calling our boys a week before the start of school,” said Remus Gomes, head coach of the Dempo SC Academy. “We are waiting for the necessary SOP from the government to get our boys together. Till such time, they are dealing with their school directly,” informed GFDC secretary Aleixo Costa.

The SFA has 66 boys in their two academies in Sanquelim and Sirsaim whilst Dempo SC has 34 boys and GFDC has 17. “We have finalised the names of another 14 U-14 boys to join the academy this year but parents seem apprehensive now with the situation arising from the Pandemic,” stated Remus.

All three academies have been training their boys through virtual media to ascertain the development of boys during the lockdown period.

“We have been sending virtual lessons to all our boys through this period of lock down. If there are guidelines that football can be played when schools start then we will have no problem. But, if football is not allowed when schools are open, we will resort to keeping our boys fit by using the gymnasium and through exercises related to the ball,” disclosed Melroy .

“We sent the boys exercises during the first phase of the Lockdown and have been monitoring the progress of each boy through Zoom thereafter. My two other coaches and I are in daily contact with all the boys and the flow of feedback is continuous,” disclosed Mateus Costa, Head Coach of GFDC academy.

“We used to have four boys sharing one room before. We are thinking in terms of allowing three boys to share a room to accommodate the social distancing protocol. Our rooms are spacious,” said Remus whilst explaining the Social Distancing norms to be followed when the boys are called back to the academy.

“ All boys will be tested and quarantined as soon as they come and that is why we have decided to call them a week before the schools reopen,” disclosed Remus.

“We had a meeting with parents of the boys and discussed with them the idea of paying a fee of Rs 50,000 per year for each boy. We are thinking of ways to self finance ourselves. We have to place the reactions before our Managing Committee to decide on whether fees should be charged or not,” stated Patwin Fizardo, General Secretary of Dempo Sports Club.

Gymnasiums and Yoga Centers have been allowed to be opened outside containment zones in Unlock 3. Schools, colleges and other educational institutions are to remain closed till August 31. Swimming pools are to be remained closed until further orders according to Unlock 3 guidelines issued by Government of India on July 31.


IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar