An under-8 boys team, dressed in oversized, ill-fitting gear, captured the imagination of the spectators at the inter-school football tournament at Azad Maidan in South Mumbai
While most play to win, others win just by playing. A case in point is the boys from St Catherine of Siena School and Orphanage in Bandra, who played in the under-8 category of the inter-school football tournament organised by Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) yesterday.
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The young boys made for a heartwarming picture at their play-off against St Mary’s SSC (Mazgaon), held at Azad Maidan. Their unambiguous defeat in the match they lost 0-10 seemed to matter little to them.
Despite losing by 10 goals, the boys made for a heartwarming picture at their play-off against St Mary’s SSC yesterday. Pics/Shadab Khan
Their jerseys, shorts, socks and shoes mostly hand-me-downs were all several sizes too big, some of the shorts touching their ankles.
The little boys had to keep pulling their shorts up throughout the match, but kept playing. Pics/Shadab Khan
All through the match, the troopers were seen struggling with their oversized gear, pulling up the shorts as they kept sliding down. And yet, their spirits seemed buoyant because the simple act of playing a competitive match and representing their school translated to a victory for them.
The boys in action
St Catherine coach Gavin Vandrine explained that the team is chiefly constituted by orphans, kids abandoned by their parents, or kids of destitute single parents who live in shanties and cannot support their children.
St Catherine coach Gavin Vandrine, Physical education teacher Alister Fernandes and Patricia Furtado
The children live in their hostel in Bandra, and meet their relatives during vacations. The orphanage is represented by three teams in the MSSA level one each in the U-12, U-10 and U-8 categories. Explaining the oversized shorts, physical education teacher Alister Fernandes said, “For us, it is more important that these children get food on a daily basis.
There are people who come and sponsor kits for the U-12 team, and we use that for all the three teams, as we cannot afford to have a separate kit for each team. But these kids are so cooperative that they don’t complain at all. They are content with whatever they have.”
Vandrine added, “People who donate the clothes don’t know the age or the height of these kids. They give kits that include T-shirts, jerseys and shoes of large size. This size only fits the boys of our U-12 team. We pass on the shoes for the U-12 kids to the U-8 boys.
One kit is common for all these boys. Of course, we wish that somebody would come forward and give them separate clothes, as per their age and height. But for now, we cannot do much, but let them play. We are aware that it is difficult to move around and play wearing bigger shoe sizes and jerseys, but we too are helpless beyond a point.”
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