St Xavier's trio failed to clear I-League outfit's trials, but are using that experience to help school team fill in the void of a coach

Though St Xavier's (Goregaon) Mayur Suvare, Hrishikesh Nirulkar and Rohan Kamble were rejected from Mumbai FC U-14 trials, the trio nevertheless is putting their experience with the I-League outfit to good use for their school team.


St Xavier's (Goregaon) Mayur Suvare (centre), Hrishikesh Nirulkar
(right) and Rohan Kamble.
Pic/Bipin Kokate

"Whatever we learnt during the Mumbai FC trials last year, is coming to good use now. We try to teach the techniques to our teammates since we do not have a coach to help us out. We share our experiences with the team and it helps us grow as a unit," Mayur told MiD DAY after St Xavier's defeated Swami Vivekanand (Borivli) 5-0 in the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) U-14 Div II match at Azad Maidan.

While Mayur scored a brace, Hrishikesh, Parab Kaustubh and Vedant Shinde scored a goal each.u00a0St Xavier's have won five games and lost only one this season.

What makes this feat special is that the team has been performing brilliantly despite not having a proper ground to practice on. The team is forced to practice on concrete roads.

The boys are keen to go beyond the quarter-final stage, the school's best finish in inter-school tournament. "Our goal is to qualify for the first division this year. We are confident of achieving it," said Mayur.

Meanwhile, in an U-16 tie at St Xavier's ground in Parel, debutants Balmohan Vidyamandir Marathi (Dadar) thrashed NES International (Mulund) 8-0. Shreerang Budbadkar scored a hat-trick, Mayur Dhamapurkar, Mandar Sawant netted a brace each and Atharva Ingle scored a solitary goal.