Goa is a cradle for budding football players. The state has produced several footballers who have excelled at the state, national and international level. One of the prime requisites necessary to nurture footballing talent in the state is to have open spaces which serve as football grounds. Our villages are dotted with several of such open spaces which the youth have been using as football ground for ages. Many of our famous Goan football players have developed their skills playing on these open spaces as kids. Now with the real estate boom there is every possibility of these open spaces grabbed by land sharks. If this happens such open spaces in the state will dwindle and in the future there may be no football grounds to nurture the budding footballing talents of our youth. The government should do it’s utmost to protect such open spaces from real estate developers so that they (open spaces) continue serving as football grounds for the youth of the villages. Otherwise the state may no longer produce quality football players in the not so distant future. Such open spaces are also used by the villagers to assemble together for a community or religious function and many of them have been in existence for over a century. These open spaces need to be preserved for posterity.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
