Sad story of D Bosco boy who had the potential but was shunted out
Flavio Lopes
sports@herald-goa.com
MAPUSA: Pain, anguish, resentment and many other reactions surfaced which were bottled up for pretty long time as Goa Basketball Association (GBA) president, C F Vaz and secretary, Shekhar Jain, ruled the roost and subsequently basketball lovers from every nook and corner of the State came together and raised their voices against the two officials outside the SAG office at Patto, Panjim on June 3.
“The GBA has totally failed to function for the past 15 years. There has been no age-group tournaments and this has almost killed the game. However, it is only due to the initiative of some private clubs and organizations and the DSYA’s and Goa University, which conduct tournaments that basketball has been kept alive to some extent. The present committee must step down and give charge to individuals who have the capacity to develop the game, and that’s the only solution,” stated Schubert Braganza, a former national basketball player.
Fr Domnic Savio Fernandes, principal, Pope John XXIII HS, Quepem, revealed a sad story about his former student who was denied a chance to reach his potential due to the negligence of the GBA. “Two years ago when I was the principal of Don Bosco, Panjim, one of our promising players came to me with tears in his eyes because he was not selected in the State team. He disclosed that players who never featured in any State tournaments were selected by the GBA. I never saw a child crying so bitterly. Upon reflecting on what he had said, I realized that so many players must have been deprived of a chance to represent the State and in the process must have even lost interest in the game. I then wrote to Vaz about this matter but till date I have not received a reply. I don’t want to point fingers at anybody, but I feel the GBA needs to undergo a drastic change and the formation of a new committee is the need of the hour. With the Lusofonia Games fast approaching, it is time that everyone comes together and strive to make basketball vibrant. ”
Nilesh Naik, an ex-player from Ponda observed that the GBA neglected players from his taluka. “During my time, I featured in the school and inter-university teams but never made it to the State team because Vaz gave me and other players from Ponda a step-motherly treatment. I feel the Government must intervene immediately and take steps to remedy the situation. They must appoint an ad-hoc committee consisting of young faces who will work for the revival of the sport,” pointed out Naik.
“When I used to play in the 1989-90s there was a lot of support for the women’s basketball team and we used to even participate in Nationals twice a year but recently, I hardly see any basketball activities for both men and women. There is sufficient infrastructure for the sport in the State and I feel the coaches must train the kids regularly. However, this is only possible if a new committee is appointed because the present one is not doing any work for the sport,” said Sumitra Fernandes, an ex-National women’s basketball player.
Agnelo Dias, director of physical education, Fr Agnel College, Pilar said: “We are all looking forward to a change because there has hardly been any development of basketball in Goa. It’s been long, too long that both, Vaz and Jain are handling the affairs of the association. GBA is not even recognized by the Goa Olympic Association and does not receive any grants from the SAG and yet, they run the association in a non-transparent and undemocratic manner. I used to coach Don Bosco HS, Panjim and our team was the best but we received no support from the GBA. There were some promising players in my team then who had the potential to even make it in the India team but their growth was severely hampered by the GBA. No basketball player has ever received a State award which shows the lack of contribution of the GBA in the upliftment and promotion of the talent that is available in the State. I think this is the best time for the infusion of young blood in the association for the betterment of basketball.”
“I took part in 15 Nationals and was even part of the India National camp once but I never received any support from Vaz. Players spent money from their own pockets for the Nationals. Sometimes, our train tickets were not booked properly and we had to even sleep on the floor near the toilets. We had terrible experiences with him (Vaz). During one particular National in Rajasthan, we reached the venue only to know that Vaz had not submitted our entry for the tournament. Our training for three months, thrice daily under coach Esmero Figueiredo went down the drain,” recollects Audrey Costa Pereira, ex-national player.
Around 100 signatories, including past and present players and supporters have already submitted a petition to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar pleading for his intervention and to take corrective measures by appointing an administrator or an ad-hoc committee to run the association temporarily, until elections can be held. Nothing has been heard after that, except that the camps are on at Don Bosco indoor stadium, Panjim under coaches Sandeep Warlikar, Dilip Ghosh and Anagha Warlikar.
Meanwhile, Games Secretary deputy director, Lenny Gama received a letter from C F Vaz asking that he and Shekar be officially informed to be part of Lusofonia Games basketball committee.
