Media Release
Melbourne, May 10: Footscray Park at 40 Maribyrnong Boulevard in inner-Western Victoria recently turned into a sea of colour on the occasion of Melbourne Konkan Community’s (MKC) Sports Day 2019.
Mens cricket and ladies throwball tournaments were simultaneously held in the vast picturesque park.
A resolution to host a cricket/throwball tournament was tabled at the beginning of the year and unanimously passed by the MKC Committee. Once the official announcements were made on the association’s facebook page, the response from all quarters was tremendous so much so that the organisers had to advance the closing dates for registration. This was a testament to the immense talent the community possesses in sports and the interest that came along with it.
The event started with an opening ceremony with players and well-wishers in attendance by invoking of blessings from the Almighty. Fr Prakash Cutinha, parish priest of Bell Park parish, Geelong led the prayers in Konkani and prayed for the success of the event. This was followed by team draws for men’s cricket and ladies throwball and the event was declared 'Open.'
The cricket teams in the alphabetical order were: Cranbourne Stars led by Lawrence Lobo in orange jersies; Northern Stars led by Arun Vas in white and blue jersies; Northern Tigers led by Roshan Sequeira in Red jersies; Old Monks led by Dyson D’Souza in black jersies; Royal Challengers led by Wilson D’Souza in dotted navy blue and white jersies; Western Warriors led by Peter Pircado in pink and red jersies; Westside Bulls led by Oswald D’Costa in blue and orange jersies and Thunder Strikers led by Vinil D’Souza in blue jersies.
The cricket matches were played in a knockout format in which the losing team in each round was eliminated. The teams that could not qualify gave a tough fight to each other before bowing out, with a few matches going down to the wire. The final was between the two teams from the west - Western Warriors and Westside Bull. The former lifted the trophy in style, thanks to some brilliant batting from their skipper Peter who led from front. Earlier, useful contributions with the bat and ball from his team saw it to the finals.
There were five entries under the ladies throwball category which were played in a league format where each team had to play against the other four. The teams in the alphabetical order were: Cranbourne Stars led by Jennifer Pais in orange jersies; Eastern Belles led by Susan Aranha in blue and white jersies; Gully Girls led by Anita Valder in green jersies; Net Ninjas led by Meena Sequeira in blue jersies and Westside Firebirds led by Larissa D’Silva in orange and blue jersies.
All the ladies throwball games saw intense competition between the teams with the players sweating it out giving their all thereby stretching many matches to three sets. At the end of four matches each playing against one another, three teams: Cranbourne Stars, Eastern Belles and Gully Girls were tied with six points each with the last team mentioned coming from behind with some excellent performance toward the end. Cranbourne Stars automatically qualified to the finals as they took less number of sets to win vis-a-vis against the other two teams. With Gully Girls and Eastern Belles having tied in points and sets, a qualifying one-set-match of 21 points was played between them. Gully Girls were the winners beating Eastern Belles and thus qualified for the finals to take on Cranbourne Stars.
With the cheer-tiny-tots singing and supporters encouraging their respective teams from the sidelines at their court ends, Cranbourne Stars were the deserved winners having overpowered Gully Girls and walked away with the winner’s trophy. Their captain Jennifer with her superb serves was non-stoppable.
In the presentation ceremony, the cricket and throwball players from each team were honoured with a participation certificate. The winners and the runners-up from the respective teams were given the coveted trophies by the sponsors who were present on the occasion. The best batsman trophy was won by Glevin Aranha from Westside Bulls for his magic with the bat and the best bowler trophy went to Christopher Pinto from Old Monk for returning impressive figures. In addition to this, each individual player from the winning team was given miniature trophies as well. The competitive spirit and the will to win between the teams were incredible and they deserved this felicitation.
The sports committee comprising of MKC vice-president Rony Roshan Valder; MKC working committee members Manoj D’Silva, Joe Sequeira and Agnel Vaz put in tremendous planning and efforts, which resulted in the successful culmination of first MKC Sports Day. Jane D’Souza, the president in her speech during the presentation ceremony thanked the sports committee for their untiring efforts in hosting this fabulous event and commended the players for their participation and the winners for their superb performance. Further she thanked MKC committee members, umpires, scorers and volunteers. She also thanked Melbourne Konkan families for coming in large numbers to support their teams.
The event was supported by diamond sponsor - PDN Homes, platinum sponsor - Ash Financial Services, silver sponsors – Harcourts Caroline Springs, Gymnastics Unlimited Australia, Western Sports Centre, Priston Photography, Tarneit Motor Service and Joe Sequeira.
The fluctuating Melbourne weather played a bit of hide and seek; with the rains there were a few interruptions in-between the games, but it did not dampen the spirit and enthusiasm of the players and the spectators around. The mobile food truck with their spicy chicken biriyani filled tummies and the ice cream truck with their varieties of flavours quenched the thirst. To sum it up, it was not only a spectacular day of cricket and throwball, but also a platform for families to come, enjoy and spend a day together under the open skies.