armstrongvazblogsfromgoa

    Margao, October 2: “I believe the only way to segregated garbage is by the creator himself (source), if he or she is disciplined everything falls in place,” says Stanley D’Costa of Dream Emerald Cooperative Housing Society, Navelim. Stanley is one of the several residents who stay in Dream Emerald Cooperative Housing Society Navelim, a multi-dwelling housing complex which has some 100 units, coming under Navelim village panchayat. Navelim, like all Goan villages which fall on the periphery of the cities, is trying to come with solutions for the moulds of garbage which find its way into dustbins installed in the village. Most of the garbage is from the multi-dwelling complexes which have come in the villages. Villagers in the interior parts of Navelim either burn the garbage and composite, although the number who opt for the latter option are few in number. Thus Dream Emerald Cooperative Housing society is a shining example in Navelim. “Non...

Mammography Unit, a Mobile Clinic Van and a cancer registry in place, taking into account the growing number of cancer cases from Goa, way back in 2010. India’s first mobile mammography unit gathers dust in Goa Goa has one of the highest incidence of breast cancer Margao: Dulari Dessai - my  neighbour  from Cuncolim - was all but 40 years old when she died. She was one of the many victims of cancer from Goa. Early detection would have helped in her case but it was too late. Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. Early detection combined with proper diagnosis, staging and treatment would help in achieving long term control or cure. Goa, according to health services surveys, has one of the highest incidence of breast cancer owing to diverse reasons such as late marriages and delayed pregnancies, declined fertility, no or less breastfeeding habit, improper nutrition, rapid lifestyle changes leading to lack of exercise amo...

Socorro Vaz charts Goa's football progress through Futsal Margao: It’s rainy season in Goa, and it rains cats and mouse in the coastal state of India. Time to have some real hot hot pakoda’s and roasted cashew nuts along with your evening tea before you venture out to play football in the muddy water of your local playground. The local playground may be available or not available for Rui and his friends depending on which grounds they want to spend playing football. Local grounds constructed by government and maintained by Sports Authority of Goa in different villages and cities are a strict no go for Rui and his friends. Rui is not the only one in football-crazy Goa who wants to enjoy playing football in the rainy season. There are many others. Gavin is one of them and he has had no problem of rains and lack of grounds throughout the season for the last three years. Gavin is a new breed of young aspiring footballers who pay...

Football is worth saving in Goa Football is worth saving. Goa Football Association needs to take its ball and make it talk.  It is past time to rid of lethargy at GFA. It is like a gangrenous limb that requires amputation before the infection spreads and the beautiful game becomes decayed beyond all possible recognition. Yes, football is still unquestionably the most popular sport on the planet. But a cloistered, corrupt like situation cannot function in a WikiLeaks world. It’s easy to be cynical about all of this, but cynicism is a luxury we can no longer afford.   Anyone paying attention to the myriad injustices emerging in the Goan football of the 21st century can see that the stakes are a great deal higher than whether a few palms are greased.

‘Cash for votes’ creeps in to Goan football Some will call it moral bankruptcy, others will point out it as a lack for strategic plan but for a silent majority it is plain bribery. The cancer of ‘cash for votes’ is slowly but surely creeping into the Goa Football Association (GFA) elections. After all football is part of Goan life and it is but natural for all the good things (read bad things) to find way into the football system of Goa. Goa polity has been used to political parties and candidates doling out liquor, cash and other goodies in the run up to the state and assembly elections for the last few decades. The last elections of the GFA Executive Committee held four years back was the first time money was paid and promised to the clubs by one of the contestant who lost the president’s election to Srinivas Dempo of Dempo SC. Dempo for the records did not indulge in any unfair practices but won on merit the confidence of the clubs. Some of the clubs compl...

Goan football gone, going…….. down the drain By Armstrong Vaz Goan football is heading towards turbulent times. The alarm bells were ringing for long. The intensity has increased and reached its peak. Wilred Leisure has opened the floodgates of what is forecasted to be a tsunami. Wilred’s pulling out from the ten-team Goa Professional League (GPL), which is due to start in August, is one of the first major setback for the new Executive Committee of Goa Football Association (GFA), which took charge on July 27. The club pulled a fast one on GFA.  The company-sponsored club has a past, which no one likes to have against its name – match-fixing.   In 2004, Curtorim Gymkhana, Sangolda Lighting Club, Wilred Leisure and Dona Paula SC brought shame to Indian and Goan football by fixing matches. Two matches played, one in South Goa and the other in North of the state, saw an astonishing 118 goals being scored, in the play-off matches of the second division. ...

DFB development plan of 2000 - Germany’s path to success in Brazil Germany’s 2014 World Cup success has not come overnight. The national team has been building towards this excellence since 2000, when it could not advance from the group stage in the European tournament. The result of the fall out was a development plan.  A plan, which has had been identifying and training athletic youngsters in 366 districts. The system produced the wave of players in their mid-20’s who excelled in Brazil. The German system is important because there is a direct line from the development plan of the German federation, DFB, and some of the celebrity coaches from Germany plying their trade elsewhere.   Germany rarely needs a renewal not with three world cup won, but that does not mean success will come on a platter, they had to work hard for it. Germany’s surges ahead taking its core from the DFB program. The wealthy national league, the Bundesliga, has kept most national players at ho...

Time for new committee to take over at Goa Football Association Goa Football Association Executive Committee 2010-2014 President: Mr. Shrinivas V. S. Dempo Vice - Presidents: Mr. Elvis Gomes, Mr. Lavinio Jude Rebello Co-Opted Members: Dr. Susana De Sousa, Mr. Anthony John D'costa Members: Mr. Alirio Lobo, Mr. Angelo Albuquerque,Mr. Anthony Pango, Mr. Babli K. Mandrekar, Mr. Benedito B. Themudo, Mr. Benjamin Silva, Mr. Gajanan Kerkar Mr. Lawrence Gomes, Mr. Prakash Naik, Mr. Sanjiv S. Nagvekar, Mr. Savio Messias, Mr. Schubert Furtado, Mr. Uday Lingudkar and Mr. Welvin Menezes

Family get-together Dine and Dance in Doha Doha:   The Konkani Speaking Community [KSC]  from India will host its Family get-together Dine and Dance at  Diplomatic Club (Royal Tent) on  April 24 , it was announced here yesterday. The  Family get-together Dine and Dance will begin at  8pm , officials of the Konkani Speaking Community [KSC] said here yesterday. The organizers have romped in Goa’s leading band “Lynx “and “Joyce & Aggie” with Lancy to provide foot tapping music for the show, patronized by the Konkani Speaking Community members from the Indian states of Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala. “Lynx has a reputation of providing its audience, enjoyable evenings of good live music for dancing and listening pleasure, which makes its memorable and unforgettable evenings for all music lovers,” said KSC about the Goan band, which made its debut to the Goan music scene in 1994. “The band encompasses classic music from the 1940...

ASD Cape Town aim to set up academy in Mumbai Looking for prospective partners Margao: ASD Cape Town, the South African football Academy, is looking to set up a branch in Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, it has been revealed. Officials of the Academy are due to visit India to explore the possibility of setting up an Academy in Mumbai similar to the one they are running in Cape Town. "The progress these boys have made has been phenomenal and as a result we are looking to visit Mumbai later next month to carry out a feasibility study on the potential of replicating our Cape Town operation in Mumbai.  Obviously, this is unchartered territory for us as we have no previous business experience in India but we have identified huge potential in football ability.   We would welcome a suitable business partner with a similar vision of improving the standard of Indian Football,” said CEO Mike Steptoe of ASD. Currently the academy is home to fou...