Goans excelled in sports in the bygone era thanks to Belgaum educational links
Goa and Belgaum had many links which go back to several decades. Here we will look at just the educational part of it when most of the Goan students were boarders in schools in Belgaum, that was before Goa’s liberation in 1962 and which also extended for a few more years after Goa became part of India and free from Portuguese rule.
The Goan who studied in these educational institutes went on to excel in both in the academic field and also in sports.
There are many sportsmen and women who took to the baby steps in sports in Belgaum and went on to play for the school, college and university besides playing for the state teams and for the country.
Some of the athletes came back and played for Goa and some took up coaching jobs or some joined government service.
In my own village, two towering sports personalities who are product of Belgaum sporting and educational culture are former football player of now defunct Panvel SC Levino Dias.
For the records Panvel SC won the Bandodkar Trophy, an all-India tournament when they were in peak form and Levino Was part of the victorious team along with a young goalkeeper called Brahamanand Shanwalkar.
The second one from Cuncolim is Zephyrus Mascarenhas, the now retired teacher of the now defunct MPS High School Murida Cuncolim, which once was an alma mater of many a student of the locality from the three villages of Assolna, Velim and Chinchinim.
Besides the Levino and Zephyrus, many parents preferred to send their students to schools in Belgaum, considering that Goa’s educational system was yet to take off to another level under the Portuguese rule.
The vacuum of good educational institutes besides those run by the catholic priest in North Goa was very much felt and it was Belgaum which filled up for what was lacking in Goa.
Besides Belgaum, South Goans also moved to Karwar for studies and a number of students from AVC were enrolled in that district which shares border with Goa.
One factor was the proximity and connectivity for both Belgaum and Karwar, while Belgaum was connected by Railways, Karwar journey was by road.
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