Army School coach has a tough job in hand

Army School (Colaba) football coach Afroz Alama sure has a tough job on his hands. He gets a fresh bunch of players every year given the nature of a defence school involves parents being transferred on a regular basis

Army School (Colaba) football coach Afroz Alama sure has a tough job on his hands. He gets a fresh bunch of players every year given the nature of a defence school involves parents being transferred on a regular basis.

This inevitably reflects in the team's showing in the inter-school football league. Yesterday, they suffered yet another defeat, this time to St Stanislaus (Bandra) in the U-14 Div II tie Mumbai School Sports Association (MSSA) league.


Vishunu S of Army School (left) chases St Stanislaus' Anurag Sinha during
an U-14 match yesterday. PIC/ATUL KAMBLE

Kristen D'Almeida and Vijay Shelke scored for the Bandra outfit.

"In this current team only captain Anuj Agarwal and Aneesh Rajput were part of the team that played last year. Rest all are newcomers," rued Alama.

The army boys did manage to reach the final two years ago though in the U-14 Div II league. "We finished runners-up then but that was the result of a team that stayed together. But that does not happen often. As parents get posted to a new place, we need to make a new team each year. But I will have the same boys next year and I am sure that they will perform well next season," he added.

However, Alama approaches his job as a new challenge each year. "It's a new set of boys for a new team and a new challenge each year. You have to accept it. I enjoy the continuous process of moulding the boys even as some of them seeing them have to leave on mid-way."

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