Ansh Gaonkar hockey player from Goa: From dirt track to scoring a superlative goal at the Hockey Sub-Junior National championship in Gujarat

 

Ansh Gaonkar hockey player from Goa: From dirt track to scoring a superlative goal at the Hockey Sub-Junior National championship in Gujarat

This is the story of Ansh Gaonkar from Gudi-Paroda and his journey of scoring a superlative goal at the Sub-Junior National championship growing up as he was on the dirt tracks of his village.

The village ground in Gudi is where the future Goan hockey players train which falls in Cuncolim Constituency represented in the Goa Legislative Assembly by Yuri Alemao, including Ansh Gaoankar son of Ankush Gaonkar.

Last month, the young boy scored a superb goal at the recently concluded West Zone Subjunior Championship in Surat Gujarat. The Gudi-born boy a student of Damodar English High School Gudi Paroda dribbled his way past seven players to score the only goal for Goa in the 11–1 to Chhattisgarh Hockey.

His goal did not go unnoticed from Hockey India officials who applauded his feat and his Physical Education teacher Amit Dessai, as manager of the same Goa team was at hand to pat his superb show.
 
 It is not the fault of the boys and girls, all of them who are school students of Damodar English High School Gudi Paroda.

Ansh journey began on the dirt track of Gudi Paroda under the watchful eyes of Amit Dessai.

Yes a dirt track, there are no big or small size astro track for these boys and girls from this village and for that matter for many of the young talented sportsmen from the surrounding villages.
 
 It is not the fault of the Physical Education teachers of the school or the school management that they have to practice on this feeble loaded ground and not an astro turf where most of the game is played.
 
 It is system that has fails them. The private enterprises. The Goans Hockey, the parent body controlling the game in the state and also the state and central government, which have been ignoring the talent in the such semi-rural setting. Forget about the rural settings for the moment. 
 
 Everybody knows that the game of hockey has moved from grass to astro turf a few decades and we in Goa still play on such dirt tracks ground. Forget about astro turf, such grounds in Gudi Paroda does not even a grass and is the red virgin soil of Goa.
 
 The red virgin soil of Goa which has produced many a football players for the country but till now no hockey player from the state has made it to the national team.
 
 Hockey who have been born and raised elsewhere in the country has shown and played for India, but none who played and learnt the game in Goa.
 
 Goans have gone and played for many a countries in the world where they have settled and made their home.
 
 Coming to the modern game, you do not need rocket science to tell the sports administrators that you do not need a full-size astro turf hockey ground to develop new talent and training them from on the surface where all the national championships are played right from Sub-junior, Junior to Senior championship.
 
 There are a lot of technical issues which cannot be solved within a fortnight when the young players shift from these dirt grounds to astro turf, talk to any technical person and you will know.
 
 Two things is the bounce and speed at which the ball travels and bounce on such dirt tracks and on astro turf, there is wide-wide gap between the two, to put across the point of playing on dirt tracks and astro turf.
 
 Alas the Goans Hockey administrators should have understood the problem and worked in the direction of rectifying the problem. 
 
 Sadly these people at Goans Hockey have an ‘Agenda within an agenda”.
 
 Forget about the era before 2009, when these very people were in charge of Goan hockey in various capacities, but let’s talk post 2009 when Goans Hockey was formed.
 
 These people have been in charge of the Association since then, switching post from secretary to vice president to treasurer, but have shown no effort to promote talent and groom talent.
 
 Nil Hockey Development programmes by Goans Hockey in the state

What are the Youth Development programs and policy that Goans Hockey have…… NOTHING ON PAPER OR IN PRACTICE.
 
 Is giving hockey sticks to Schools and High Secondary Youth development. Certainly not.
 
 Talking about hockey sticks, Indian Olympians of Goan origin Joaquim Carvalho, Merwyn Fernandes and Clarence Lobo, are doing the job to keep the hockey spirit going in the state. But they know that to take the game to the next level Goa needs small size hockey astro turf and good coaching program in place. Dedicated coaching staff and support staff along with passionate people who will work with the coaching personnel.
 
 Talk to these Olympians and to any knowledgeable person, who is into youth Development and they will tell you that in the modern era, just like Futsal in football, it is the 5-a-side astro turfs are the places where the young players across the country and in the world where the technical skills are learned and horned under expert coaches.
 
 Down in the South Goa, there are two places, which come to mind when it comes to astro turf surfaces…. one in Benaulim — Good Angels Sports Arena at Mariabhat Benaulim and the second one is Kings School in Mugali, Sao Jose de Areal.
 
 At Kings, coaches Sagun and Vijay are trying to carry forward the hockey agenda forward with his stellar efforts backed by the sports management lead by its dynamic Chairman Melwin Pereira.
 
 So if you need to produce champion and quality hockey players, you need to move to small astro turf in the absence of full size astro turf.
 
 For the records, Goa only has one full size astro turf at Peddem Mapusa and it is the only ground where the state championship are held.
 
 Ironically, the North Goa players and clubs play all their zonal matches on astro turf while the South Goa counterparts play on such dirt grounds.
 
 The South Goa winners then move to North to take on the winners from North Goa, what a sea of change n terms of ground and change in settings, which they have to adjust to.
 
 Talking about dirt tracks, Schools hockey tournament for South Goa schools (more specifically Salcete schools) suffer the ignominy of playing on such dirt tracks in events organized by Directorate of Sports and Youth affairs .
 
 No schools from Sanguem, Canacona, Quepem and even Vasco talukas do not take part in organised by Directorate of Sports and Youth affairs also suffers the same fate.

No wonder there was not a single player from South Goa in the Goa team for the National Games 2023, of the two in the women team and one in the men’s dream were dropped in the first stage of the diet camp itself.
 
 Talking about the coaches development, the less said the better in the state.
 
 Of the three coaches working with Sports Authority of Goa, all the three are based in North Goa, clearly indicating where the power centre lies when it comes to hockey talent in the state.
 
 Talent always does not win in the Indian content and that holds true for Goa.
 
 if players from the North Goa dominate on the ground the same is not true for the sports administrators’ with people from Salcete holding the reins of the game through dubious clubs with never take part in the South Goa championships, the records which are forged to suit the interests of the clubs and the sports administrators larger interests.

Holding on to the power and the related perks which come along with it.

Save Goa from such sports administrators and the game play away from the paly field to the determent of the interests of young hockey players.