Thanks to the undying enthusiasm of Tejas Sir, Tarun Sir and Sarvajit Sir, the young sportsmen underwent two months of vigorous training of basic and advanced passing skills, shooting and dribbling. So that they could give their best in the Subroto Mukerjee cup!

These selected young sportsmen formed the in-sixteen line-up of the Inter School Football Competition held at Essar International School, Surat. Stretching from 24th July to 25th July, this competition did not turn out to be a trophy-winning event, but did leave an ink mark in the school’s list of competitions.

On 24th July, the boys in maroon were on their toes and ready for the upcoming challenge. On reaching the venue, a few coaches who had an unparalleled experience in football created a wise fixture for the 17 participating teams.

It were the Atmiyans (the students of Atmiya Vidya Mandir) and the Alchemians (the students of Alchemy School, Suray) who played the first match. All the way from the kick-off till the end of the first 30 minutes, both the teams exhibited tactful offences, executed unbeatable defences, demonstrated unconquerable formations and withstood numerous close saves. Despite the vigorous and energetic first half, none of the teams portrayed even a speck of tiredness in the second half. In fact, the zeal to win the match was burgeoning in each and every player. Without conceding a single goal, the match went into the penalties. Under the vivifying touch of Tarun Sir’s genius, the boys had perfected their penalties to such an extent that a sudden death penalty for 7-6 didn’t bring down their unwavering spirit! Victory came in a rush.

On 25th July, the second match played against SUV School was a testimony of the harmonic coordination portrayed by the players of Atmiya Vidya Mandir. With the aid of Arpit bhai’s awesome runs, Kalp bhai’s splendid headers and Nirav bhai’s dumbstrucking trickeries coupled with Tejas Sir’s calm and premeditated prudence, the scoreboard displayed 5-0 to AVM! The victorious game was an act of beauty that enabled our school to penetrate further into the tournament towards the quarter finals.

With every victory, the motivation to win in the boys clad with maroon increased perpetually. But it is rightly said that, “Change is the law of nature”. Hence, the further matches became more competitive and challenging. With well guided tips from Tarun Sir, the team set foot on the ground for their 3rd match against AED School (Ankleshwar).

The first half against AED, a piece of great grandeur to all the spectators, narrowed down to a balanced score of nil-nil. However, in the second half, the first goal of the opponents dawned upon us like doom. But the spirits owing to the boundless cheer from the coaches, remained unwavered. Each and every member of the team left no trace of diminishing enthusiasm by devoting their best to the game. But, at the end of the 2nd half, the terrible setback of 3-0 compelled us to withdraw from the tournament.

All the players left the domain with a takeaway of improving their skill-set and enhancing their fitness. Although a terrible defeat showered upon the team, not even a speck of resignment flashed on the faces of these young sportsmen, as one word told by Pujya Suhrad Swamiji had jammed deep within their hearts……….

BELIEF!!!

Reported by: Shrimed Sangani (Class 10), Kalp Patel, Manan Mehta (11 Science)