By bowing down my head in reverence to Fr. Lyons for being the pioneer in promoting the Soccer in Goa and Candolim being close to Arpora and Aguada, the influence of soccer came heavily on Candolim from Arpora on one side and from Aguada on the other side and Candolim being receptive of any innovation, it absorbed soccer system introduced by the Portuguese Soldiers stationed at Aguada and the British soccer system introduced by Fr. Lyons at Arpora School was accepted by others. BTW, who is Fr. Lyons? Fr. Lyons was none other than the non-Goan young Seminarian who while undergoing his studies as a Noviciate he was afflicted with deadly skin desease and his superiors came to know that this is incurable, he was asked to leave the Seminary which he did and started moving everywhere in search of medicine for the cure of this desase till he came across one man who told him to go to Goa where there is one village called Sinquerim and you will find there Springs of medicinal water that will cure his deasease. Following this advice, he got cured and as a mark of gratitude for Goa, he started E nglish education in Goa by starting first English High School of Goa at Arpora.
Then about 150 years back Candolim villagers mainly the manual workers namely “Xetkars – Zotkars – Paddekars – Nistekars” and others formed their own soccer team called “PELVAN” that gained lot of popularity for them especially when this team defeated both the Aguada comprising Pakles and Khapris and Arpora School teams The Pelvan team from Candolim received no formal coaching from the qualified Trainer but the team memberes of this Pelvan team by nature having very good aptitude and strong love for playing soccer, this attitude made them innovative on the field thus giving them impetus to play better soccer.
My father was one of the prominent members of this Pelvan team who was once given a Medal by the Portuguese Military Officer stationed at Aguada for playing a very good game. The other important player of that team was my maternal Uncle Dioginho Vaz of whose type Candolim has not produced another though my eldest brother the late Cheddo playing for Goa Police came close to him, Speaking on him the renowned Doctor from Candolim Dr. Gustavo Monteiro who was the President of Goa Footall Association told openly “Candolim is yet to see another Dioginho Vas, such a player is very difficult to come again”. And speaking on Dioginho Vaz, the then Principal of Arpora School Fr. Mendonca who when he came to know that Dioginho Vaz was my maternal Uncle, he put his hand around my shoulder and praised my Uncle so much saying and comparing my Uncle with the then famous Abu from Vasco who was like Goan Pele and said Dioginho Vaz was much better than Abu. MY Uncle Dioginho Vaz once when I was very small boy told me how he was better than Abu and how Abu gained the advantage over my Uncle and concluded saying: Abu by playing in Vasco and other prominent soccer grounds had better exposure and this is the reason he became more famous.
In my village some of the locals who were aged and who were told by their elders that two members of our family clan were the renown players of the then mighty soccer team Pelvan of Candolim and whenever we meet we still hallow each other saying as: ‘PELVAN” the meaning of this Konkani word is similar to strong, the players of this Pelvan team by virtue of the team members of Pelvan had to be physically strong in the fist fight too. If any fight took place on the field they had to beat and beat their opponents on the field miserably. They were feared on the field for their artistic game and also they were more feared beyond the football jurisdiction. According to my father who was one of the members of this Pelvan Team and my maternal uncle DIoginho Vas of whose caliber Candolim is yet to produce another, the Portuguese soccer standard was much higher and Goans liked their system and standard.
Now, it is very disappointing to know that in my village there is no enthusiasm in the current young boys to play soccer as we had during our days. During my younger days, our Candolim ground almost throughout the year was full with local players. But now what I noticed since recently our football ground is rented to outside teams for them to practice and for our boys who got all the rights to use it at anytime are denied their rights to use this ground for them as freely as ever. In this way, how we in our village develop our football and bring back the glories and laurels for the Candoicars in the soccer? In the past so many of our young boys donned not only the colours of the then mighty Sesa Goa, Dempo, Salgaocars, Vasco and others but even played in the National and International tourneys and brought name for them and for our great village Candolim. It is a pity some of our villagers, the so called custodians when do not know their own fathers then how they will know the history of our historical village? And on top of it the bloody rascals who are settlers in Candolim want to become the leaders of our village. Where are our genuine villagers gone and why these non-Candoicars are given opportunities in our village? They once grab power by coming in our village as slaves, they then fortify their positions so firmly that within a short time they become masters of our village to fulfill their ambitions. And as far as our Panchayats are concerned based on my assessment on past incidents some of our Panchayats are in the hands of “CHORS” who by cheating and fooling their local voters come to power and make money that is illicit money Otherwise let me know what is their purpose in Panchayat? What are the salaries and emoluments of our SarpaNCHAS AND OTHER PANCHAS? Last month one exSarpanch donated almost a lakh of rupees as his donations for staging a Tiatro which means what is his income per month and is that income earned thru proper channel? And on top it these bribe prone politicians are roaming In society with their bare chest. Why our priests keeping their silence on the robberies of these rogues especialy when they are Catholics?
Since soccer has to be revived in my village, I demand that all those who are involved in this activity must begin working on its revival.
A.Veronica Fernandes.
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