Chak De! Mumbai: Meet the city's top school coaches

That some of Hollywoods most inspirational stuff is scripted around highschool coaches should come as no surprise Pep talks abuses and giving them a dream to fight for the school coach lays the foundation for a good player Olympian and former Indian hockey captain Viren Rasquinha swears by his two coaches mdash Marcellus Gomes and Marzban Patel I learnt all my technical skills from Marcellus in school and from Bawa as Patel is known after school Bawa believed that I could play for India I wouldnt have if it were not for Bawa Subconsciously I guess I did not want to let him down Thats the power of a coach We bring you four of Mumbais best school coaches who have toiled for decades to give the game its shining momentsPatel trains students daily for two hours on a small cemented court that has no goalpost PicNimesh DaveMarzban PatelHockey coach Childrens Academy MaladUntil he was 14 Marzban Bawa Patel had no idea what hockey was Sometimes in the bylanes of Sion Koliwada where he grew up he would wield a rudimentary hockey stick It was his neighbour Munir Khan a wellknown hockey player at the time who got him interested in the game He and his sons were playing for the Republican Club and I would often watch their matches From very early on I had a knack for spotting talent says the grizzly haired 68yearold who has been a hockey coach for 35 yearsPatel is known to have unearthed and groomed talent largely free of cost You cant do this job for the money because there is hardly any I wouldnt advise anyone to become a coach if they are guided by the economics of itBawa Sir as hes fondly called has trained many top names in hockey including his latest talent Indias goalkeeper Suraj Karkera Childrens Academy approached him 10 years ago The setting is not ideal Theres a small cemented court without a goalpost Its fascinating therefore that Indias goalkeeper Karkera started his training on this very court Suraj was not a goalkeeper we made him into one His parents were not keen that he pursue the game I had to take him for tournaments without their knowledgeAsk whats that one quality a coach must have and Patel says Patience And what does he do when his temper gets the better of him Use Bad words he smiles Those bad words have made good players Parents dont like it but it acts like a tonicAt 68 hes more mentor now than coach He travels from Vile Parle to Malad every day for training He has a slight hunch his pace is slow and his demeanour quiet But retirement is far from his mind Ill keep going till I am alive Theres no life without hockey without looking at these children without feeling that you have to groom that boyWilfred Alex AlvaSports coordinator Campion School Colaba1986 A year before Wilfred Alex Alva passed Std X from St Dominic Savio High School Diego Maradonas Hand of God goal had sent a shiver down his spine Growing up at this Andheri boarding school Alva had Maradona posters and paper clippings lining the lid of his trunk in the years to come when Alva would sign up for the Indian Navy Maradona would adorn his lockers too At school we had the option between cricket and football I was too poor to afford the former And once I saw footballers like Maradona who came from the slums I had hope I wanted to become like him have a body like him says Alva 49We are seated in the gym room of Colabas Campion School where Alva has been working as sports coordinator first from 2003 to 2005 and then 2008 onwards A neat row of glistening trophies mdash winners and runnersup mdash is placed at a cornerAlva says getting the elite boysof Campion to play hard football is truly something PicsDatta KumbharFrom outside the unbridled enthusiasm of boys during PT class fills the hallway making it nearly impossible to hear Alva Unbothered by the merry din Alva tells us I joined Campion to teach football as my way of giving back to society I find it more purposeful here than to be associated with some club These are elite boys here and getting them to play hard football is truly somethingLast year the school clinched the under16 Mumbai Schools Sports Association MSSA Division 1 title against Don Bosco It was a proud moment for Alva even more so because as he says making two teams out of the modest student population that Campion hosts mdash arguably half the number at Don Bosco as he puts it mdash is quite a task Last month Alva cast Rahul Verma mdash a Std X student tennis champion and captain of the schools basketball team mdash as goalkeeper for the Boys under16 Division 1 league of the MSSA InterSchools football tournament Youve got to do what you can when you have fewer students I had to train him in just eight months he saysAlvas ingenuity lends itself to the under8 group that he coaches You have to catch their legs literally show them where to shoot You get to mould them rather than get readymade players he explainsBefore he took voluntary retirement from the Navy Alva worked as a physical instructor across centres such as the National Defence Academy in Pune and Sainik School Thiruvananthapuram He is married to football coach Jyoti Alva whom he met while studying at the Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports in KolkataYou see that there he says pointing to a bunch of footballs My household runs on those While I train my students in several sports including lawn tennis and badminton I think football is the king among themCyril DSouzaAthletics and handball coach Jamnabai Narsee School JuhuWhen we catch coach Cyril DSouza on Juhu beach on a weekday evening in the middle of a training session theres a slight drizzle The training however continues unhindered This is resistance training The more it rains the better Sometimes during high tide I even make them run in the water says the 51yearold who has been athletics and handball coach for 30 years In his younger days it was his natural stamina that drew him to athletics When he was in Standard IX at Dominic Savio High School Andheri East DSouza had set a record in the U19 3000metre category But at that time his talent did not find the direction it needed I became coach to give back to students what I did not get as a playerPicsSatej ShindeOne of the key strategies he uses as coach is to record games Thats the only way to get students interested in the game spot their mistakes Children are bombarded from all corners these days Theres the pressure of academics As coaches we need to calm them down push them but not burn them out I dont promise parents any fortnight wonders Let them play their game DSouza says The 51yearold who has coached several Bollywood star kids including Esha Deol Masaba Gupta Alia Bhatt Fardeen Khan and Kunal Kapoor says that the greatest challenge coaches face these days is that children now are fattened He adds When I say fattened I mean overindulged Those star kids were never like that Their parents meant business mdash rough it out Nowadays you make the kids work a bit hard and parents call you out on itHe keeps contact with his celeb students often getting them to attend functions I want to give my students a message mdash if these star kids who were born with a silver spoon could do it why cant you Deol Bhatt Shraddha Kapoor are among the many state level handball players that DSouza has groomed Esha was particularly rebellious she has played every state level match even though her father did not agree to allow it all the timeHe has over 3000 friends on Facebook and all are my students he smiles DSouza also trains underprivileged kids Quitting school coaching for monetary prospects has never crossed my mind Working with children keeps me youngPicDatta KumbharLeslie MachadoSchool team football coach Don Bosco High School MatungaTHE journey from Cadell Road to Don Bosco High School at Kings Circle is one that Leslie Machado looks forward to every day The hometofootballfield drive is something of a pilgrimage for him As he sprints across the schools basketball court to reach the sunny field his cinereous hair glistening in the afternoon there is a swagger about him that belies his ageBoscos is Boscos says Machado 62 As he takes in the two football fields in the schools backyard his pride in the boys school is obvious It is an admiration that is returned in equal regard This past week when the school won the Mumbai Schools Sports Association under16 Division I title Don Bosco skipper Manan Dang dedicated the win to Machado who finishes 25 years as coach at Don Bosco this yearMachado recently retired from the Central Railway where he worked both as chief office superintendent and played in their football team It was in 1991 however when a severe cartilage tear forced him to take it easy on the ground His passion for the game found new avenues when Adib Kenkre then a coach at Don Bosco asked his hand at coaching Soon after Machado was on the school grounds after office hours training students right from under8 to under16Machado calls himself shy but on the field he is a fierce mentor making students yield their best to the game On the field everyone is your enemy If you are playing against your dad ndash even he is your enemy he says If it sounds harsh that is hardly what Machado is Off the ground I am a friend to the students he laughsOver the last couple of decades Machado has taught batches of students and now their sons There are parents who say that Machado is as good as a father figure to the students Taking care that the young players are not pushed beyond their capacity to exhaustion Machados specialty lies in making sure that students are not moulded to fit the game but to see how their strengths can be put to the best use I love teaching the under8 lot They are very raw They run wildly on the ground and jump on me Its amazing to see how they get into football as they qualify for under16 he says