‘Won’t mind if they lose 0-20’

Not many coaches would take a 0-4 drubbing easily, but Melvin Fernandes took it in the right spirit.

On Tuesday, Victoria High School found the target four times to send St Elias High School packing in a Nike-MSSA U-16 inter-school, fourth division match.

St Elias came to the MSSA grounds after practising on tarmac. “We don’t even have a ground to practise these days,” explained Fernandes. The students get to play football that too six-a-side games. Though this wasn’t the case previously Fernandes pointed out. “We used to hire St Andrew’s grounds for practice, but the school now cannot afford it,” said Fernandes, who is an alumnus of this school.

During the match, Fernandes didn’t even yell on his boys from the sidelines for their below par show. “Even if they would have lost 0-20, I wouldn’t mind, I just want the football culture to return,” said Fernandes. Knowing that his school doesn’t have a strong sports background, the coach wants to build a team first, then a winning combination.

The school is dedicating more time and energy in their U-12 and U-14 teams. “Since the U-16 guys would leave in a year’s time, it makes more sense to focus on the junior boys for better prospects,” explained Fernandes. But with little financial support and resistance of parents, it isn’t an easy task for the management to bring glory soon.

But the coach is optimistic. Shuffling schedules between his job in a multinational bank and a coach for his alma mater, Fernandes feels that if the kids come out of the curse of cricket, half the job is done. “Cricket’s craze doesn’t allow the kids to think beyond,” said Fernandes. But after losing the way they did, Fernandes’ job has not become any easier.

Results: B-U-16-IV-L: NSS Hill Spring (Tardeo) 1 bt Robert Money 0; B-U-16-IV-J: Indian Airlines w/o vs Podar Int’nal (Santacruz); Victoria HS (Mahim) 4 bt St Elias HS (Khar) 0; B-U-16-IV-R: Maulana Azad (Byculla) 1 (Sk Imran) bt Don Bosco (Vikhroli) 0; Sharon English (Mulund) 0 drew St Joseph’s HS (Umarkhadi) 0; B-U-16-IV-N: HVB Academy (Marine Lines) 3 bt Gopi Birla Memorial School 0; B-U-16-IV-I: St Theresa (Bandra) 7 bt Cardinal Gracias School (Bandra) 0; B-U-16-IV-K: GD Somani (Cuffe Parade) 7 bt Little Angels (Sion) 0; B-U-16-IV-A: Cambridge School (Kandivali) 2 bt Swami Vivekanand Intl (Borivali) 1; B-U-16-IV-G: Arya Vidya Mandir (Juhu) w/o Bunts Sangh SM Shetty (Powai); Parle Tilak Eng Med (Vile Parle) 0 drew SVKM CNM School (Vile Parle) 0. B-U-16-III-C: Swami Vivekanand Intl (Kandivali) 2 bt Ryan Intl ICSE (Malad) 0