U-14 sizzle: Champions in Football and basketball!

U-14 SIZZLE: CLINCH UTPAL SANGHVI TROPHY IN SOCCER, DSO TITLE IN BASKETBALL

- Vismit Chavan

St. Joseph’s High School

Wadala

6^th October 2012

The under-14 football and basketball teams are enjoying a dream run this scholastic year.  In less than two months, both the teams have two titles under their belt – no mean achievement, since such results are hard to come by these days with the stiff competition from the top-notch schools in sports these days.   With the DSO South Mumbai title already in their bag, our u-14 football team went on to lift the Utpal Sanghvi trophy and thus crowned themselves the Mumbai champs. Displaying amazing skills – acquired through many years of hard work and sacrifice under the watchful eyes of the unassuming, yet demanding coach, Mr. Michael D’Silva, and assistants, Mr. Tony De Sa, and Mr. 

Avinash Gracious – and flummoxing opponents with

deft touches, our boys surprised many pundits of the game, outplaying St. Stanislaus High School, Bandra, in the finals played on 28^th Sept. 2012 .  The score 1-0 at the end of the final whistle (and scored by our ace striker Tej Bohara in the dying minutes of the game) however does not reflect the dominance of the spirited Josephites throughout the match. The victory has earned our boys, forever labeled the underdogs, the much deserved self-belief and acclaim from all quarters – in fact, a special mention was made in the illustrated daily ‘Mid-Day’ of our two budding footballers Tej and Bishnu Bohara, who brought laurels to the school through their gutsy display against St. Theresa’s, Bandra in the semi-finals.  We now continue our journey to Kolhapur to vie for the state championship title.

The u-14 basketball team was not to be left far behind. Taking a cue from their football peers, the team added the second trophy to their kitty this scholastic year by winning the DSO basketball tournament held in Sept-Oct. 2012.  In the replayed finals – the earlier match was washed out in the final session of play due to heavy rains, and thus called off – our boys routed Don Bosco, Matunga, 31-13 in the finals on 5^th Oct. 2012, at Don Bosco, Matunga.  Down 5-11 in the first quarter, our boys came into their own in the third quarter, and twisted the knife with commendable ease to clinch the title.  The taste of victory was sweeter since it was against our arch rivals Don Bosco, Matunga.  In the semi-finals, our team got the better of Cathedral, 31-15. Coupled with sublime basketball skills is the growing self-belief that has helped this team earn laurels.  And yes, there are the two coaches, Mr. Raju and Mr. Somnath, who have worked tirelessly to convert this team into a fighting top-notch unit.  Kudos to them!

Take a bow, champs!