Lawrence break the mould
Sayed Roshan
Kandivali school’s pro-sports environment pays rich dividends as team wins maiden MSSA title.
While celebrating champions, we often tend to disregard what goes into making them. It could be the coach, support staff or school, often our best flourishing ground. Ask the St Lawrence School boys, who downed Bombay Scottish 2-1 in the Under-16 Mumbai School Sports Association (MSSA) final.
Meet St Lawrence coach Lachman Singh Bisht, who has been coaching the present batch for the past 10 years. Bisht took charge when these boys were in primary school. He knows their pulse and says he had “full faith” that his boys would deliver. “You get results when you train players at the grassroots level,” said Bisht.
St Lawrence chairman AF Pinto ensured that Bisht himself availed of the highest coaching standards. In 2007, the school sent him to London for UEFA level training.
The school’s vision could be gauged by the way it arranged two buses for its U-10, U-12 and U-14 players so that they could watch the finals. “We just want the players to do well in sports. We try our best to provide them the best training. We brought the players to the ground so that they could cheer for the team, witness the win, and follow the same path in the future,” said head master of St Lawrence School Shashi Shekhar.
The school must also be lauded for giving full moral support to Nikhil Parulekar, who hardly received any backing from his family where football was concerned.
And Parulekar paid back with a crucial brace in yesterday’s win. “I do feel bad that my family do not come for my games, I would have been happy if they had witnessed my goals,” said the 14-year-old.
“My father is not happy with me playing football. He wanted me to play cricket or take up some other sport as it is difficult to make a career in football in India. But I’m passionate about the game and want to play it all my life,” he added.
Nikhil’s mother, who too didn’t watch the final, said: “When we see him play so well, we go with his will.”
Bombay Scottish had their chances but managed to convert just one chance in the 20th minute, courtesy Dikshant Verma’s strike. St Lawrence boys attacked to start with but were content to defend their lead in the second half.
Results
Under-16 Div I (Final): St. Lawrence (Kandivali) (2) (Nikhil Parulekar 2) beat Bombay Scottish ‘A’ (Mahim) (1) (Dikshant Verma 1)
Under-16 Div II (Final): St. Dominic Savio (Andheri) (3) (Hansel D’Souza 1) ((Penalties) (Baretto Calvin, Kutty Karan, Shegade Neeraj)) Beat Via Tie breaker St. Joseph (Wadala) (1) (Kavan Napanda) Full Time Score 1-1.
Kandivali school’s pro-sports environment pays rich dividends as team wins maiden MSSA title.
While celebrating champions, we often tend to disregard what goes into making them. It could be the coach, support staff or school, often our best flourishing ground. Ask the St Lawrence School boys, who downed Bombay Scottish 2-1 in the Under-16 Mumbai School Sports Association (MSSA) final.
Be it providing coaching or lending moral support, St. Lawrence boys thrive on their school’s sports environment.
Meet St Lawrence coach Lachman Singh Bisht, who has been coaching the present batch for the past 10 years. Bisht took charge when these boys were in primary school. He knows their pulse and says he had “full faith” that his boys would deliver. “You get results when you train players at the grassroots level,” said Bisht.
St Lawrence chairman AF Pinto ensured that Bisht himself availed of the highest coaching standards. In 2007, the school sent him to London for UEFA level training.
The school’s vision could be gauged by the way it arranged two buses for its U-10, U-12 and U-14 players so that they could watch the finals. “We just want the players to do well in sports. We try our best to provide them the best training. We brought the players to the ground so that they could cheer for the team, witness the win, and follow the same path in the future,” said head master of St Lawrence School Shashi Shekhar.
The school must also be lauded for giving full moral support to Nikhil Parulekar, who hardly received any backing from his family where football was concerned.
And Parulekar paid back with a crucial brace in yesterday’s win. “I do feel bad that my family do not come for my games, I would have been happy if they had witnessed my goals,” said the 14-year-old.
“My father is not happy with me playing football. He wanted me to play cricket or take up some other sport as it is difficult to make a career in football in India. But I’m passionate about the game and want to play it all my life,” he added.
Nikhil’s mother, who too didn’t watch the final, said: “When we see him play so well, we go with his will.”
Bombay Scottish had their chances but managed to convert just one chance in the 20th minute, courtesy Dikshant Verma’s strike. St Lawrence boys attacked to start with but were content to defend their lead in the second half.
Results
Under-16 Div I (Final): St. Lawrence (Kandivali) (2) (Nikhil Parulekar 2) beat Bombay Scottish ‘A’ (Mahim) (1) (Dikshant Verma 1)
Under-16 Div II (Final): St. Dominic Savio (Andheri) (3) (Hansel D’Souza 1) ((Penalties) (Baretto Calvin, Kutty Karan, Shegade Neeraj)) Beat Via Tie breaker St. Joseph (Wadala) (1) (Kavan Napanda) Full Time Score 1-1.
