Dronacharya Award-winning hockey coach and mentor Marzban ‘Bawa’ Patel has come away mighty impressed with the talent on view at the recent Mumbai Schools Sports Association-organised U-12 and U-10 inter-school hockey tournaments at the St Stanislaus Ground, Bandra. Don Bosco High School (Matunga) emerged champions, beating St Stanislaus in both finals, but it’s the playing style of the youngsters that caught Bawa’s attention.

“Some of these Don Bosco and Stanislaus boys are hardly nine or 10 years old, but they played some very intelligent hockey. They efficiently used the length and breadth of the turf and confidently executed some good slap shots and swift passes. Some of them possessed some really good ball skills too,” Patel, 72, told mid-day. In fact, he believes that if this bunch can be kept together and groomed for the next decade, more than half a dozen of them can go on to represent Team India.