Levino Dias Goa's most successful youth development coach

 

Levino Dias Goa's most successful youth development coach

 


Levino Dias is one of the Goa's most successful youth development coach till date. Sadly, others who had taken over from him have not been able to come to a sniffing close to the record and have seldom won the title for Goa in the sub-juniors.

HUMBLE, AGGRESSIVE and attentive to detail is one of the virtues that one would associate with the Goa's most successful youth development coach till date, Levino Dias. Three winners' titles, an equal number of runners-up and another two third place finishes in the sub junior championship speaks volume of the man who made Goa a force to reckon with on the football field in the sub-juniors.

Sadly, with the transition of time, others who had taken over from him have not been able to come to a sniffing close to the record and have seldom won the title for Goa in the sub-juniors. The blame game of lack of success revolves from cheating and fielding of overage players to substandard facilities provided for Goan players taking part in tournament in other states

The diminutive south Goa based coach, hailing from Cuncolim village, started his journey into football as angry young man in the mid field and with a tradition of having elder brothers addicted and infected with soccer bug it was, but natural that the young one would follow in their footsteps.

The football journey first flowered not in the rice fields of Cuncolim, but far way in Karnataka, Belgaum district where he was studying. There was no looking back. Holidays were the occasion he longed for to display his wares before his friends’ relatives and admirers in Goa. The admirers who have grown with every passing game in his village.

The young talent passed into the hands of Late Father Chico or Pri Chico, as he was fondly called by his students and it was Academica that the stellar influence of Pri Chico molded Levino further as a footballer.

The experience was worth it for Levino, as he also carried a lot of positive things from Father Chico, which he still fondly recollects as if it was yesterday that the worlds of Fr Chico rang in his ears. He tries to pass on the game finer points to young kids and grownups.

From Academica to Panvel Sports Club, where he was one of the seniors who took the legendary goalkeeper Brahmanand Shanwalkar, who went to captain the Indian squad, under his wings.

Levino during his playing days formed a terrific pair along with Joao D'Mello and the two were formidable partnership.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Incredible Football Festival of India (IFFI)

Image
When November swings around it’s time to roll out the red carpet as a plethora of mega stars from Bollywood fly into Goa to celebrate the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). The week long extravaganza brings glamorous actors and directors from the film fraternity in contact with fans of the big screen. This year’s event happened between the 20 th  and 28 th  of November in Panjim and was extra special for me. On the sidelines of the main event, an open air football film festival was organised by Serendipity, which took place from the 22 nd  till the 27 th  of November at the Children’s park in Campal. The idea behind the screenings was that Goans love football, so this would attract them towards attending the glitzy annual event. The friendly German professor, Jans Tilman was the curator of the football documentaries and was present to interact with the audience before and after the movies. This was actually Jan’s second trip to Goa as he previously organised similar foo
Read more

Doha winner Aryna Sabalenka: ‘I lost my dad in the pre-season. I’m doing this for him’

Image
Doha winner Aryna Sabalenka: ‘I lost my dad in the pre-season. I’m doing this for him’ Aryna Sabalenka eased past Petra Kvitova to win the Qatar Open and then dedicated the title to her father Sergey, who passed away in November. The 21-year-old secured her sixth WTA Tour title and third Premier 5 trophy with a solid victory over the eighth-seeded Kvitova, winning 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 14 minutes. The ninth seed broke in game four of the first set and games seven and nine of the second to ease to victory. Sabalenka revealed afterwards how tough the past few months have been on her following the death of her father. “It was a long journey here and I put everything on tennis,” the Belarusian said. “I was actually only playing tennis and focusing on tennis and nothing else. And I think I gave everything for tennis. “I just lost my dad in the pre-season and he was my biggest motivation, and I’m doing it for him.” The world No 13’s last four titles were all w
Read more

Asia’s best women’s teams poised for AFC Women’s Club Championship™ return

    The stage will be set for the return of Asia’s premier women's football club competition when eight club champions from as many Member Associations (MAs) discover their battle lines at the official draw ceremony of the  AFC  Women’s Club Championship™ 2023 - Invitational Tournament on Thursday.  Taking place from November 6 to 12, the tournament will give way to the  AFC  Women’s Champions League  from the 2024/25 season.  The eight participants, three more than the previous edition, will be divided into two groups of four teams who will play in centralised venues in Uzbekistan and Thailand.  The seeding is based on the latest FIFA Women’s World Ranking of their respective MAs, and following the Nadeshiko’s commendable performance at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023, WE League champions Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies of Japan will be the top seed, securing a spot in Pot 1.  With Australia’s Semi-final finish at the FIFA Women’s World Cup earning them the s
Read more