With Goa football Development Council (GDFC) coaching in limbo in Cuncolim, just like the other parts of Goa young footballers from Cuncolim were restless and itching for action.
After spending months indoors and attending online classes footballers were getting hooked to online games and other electronic gadgets.
The parents were concerned but with nothing coming up on the football coaching front they had no clue what was in store for them.
But if one door closed then another opened for them. Help came in the form of Raimond D’Souza. The former footballer seeing his boys having nothing to do decided to take matters into his own hands. He has since kicked off his own football coaching at Poitomaddo grounds in Cuncolim.
While the rest of the GDFC centers are shut down on account of COVID Raimond kicked off Santa Cruz Angels Poitomaddo Cuncolim and since has been a smooth sailing.
From 15 students it has since grown to 40 plus young footballers and in the meanwhile some of them have taken wings and joined some of the leading professional clubs of Goa including Indian Super League club FC Goa.
And Raimond does not get any monetary help from Goa government, Sports Authority of Goa, GDFC or any club or institutions, his youth training programme runs on the support of his well wishers and football lovers..
Raimond flair for coaching was noticed at a very young age when he was a player of Cuncolim Union semi or team.
I was senior coach Levino Dias, who saw the dedication and passion for coaching in him and encouraged him to the hilt.
Raimond during his playing days at his peak form played for Churchill Bros, Sarzora SC and a few others clubs in Goa and Mumbai.
“he is very dedicated player and good in picking up the weak points of young players and correcting their techniques, to sum up he is a good teacher and a good communicator with young children,” said Levino Dias, a former Panvel SC player and who coached various clubs and different age group Goa state teams and also the famous AVC eves team.
Raimond boys have got themselves registered with various clubs but return to their first coach to keep themselves fit and to keep their regular practice going.
The parents are appreciative of his approach to coaching and one of them is Malwin D’Souza.
“He brings different coaches who talk to the youngsters and try to motivate them. Each one has a different approach and a different look towards coaching philosophy. It helps to have a different coach, some things which might have missed a regular coach can be spotted and rectified,” said Malwin.
If football lovers shout from roof tops about promoting football it is because of people like Raimond that the grassroots football programmes are kept floating in the Cuncolim, Goa and India.
May Ramoind tribe increase all over India.
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