Lights on at Cooperage for inter-school finals?

The Cooperage ground at Churchgate. Pic/Shadab Khan

Schools contesting the finals in higher age categories and top divisions of the Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) inter-schools football championships this year can look forward to playing their title-deciders under floodlights at the Cooperage ground. MSSA football secretary Sebastian Fernandes informed mid-day that they plan to conduct the main finals under lights and in a festive atmosphere at Cooperage.

"We are celebrating our 125th anniversary this season and want to do something different, so we have decided to try and hold the finals of at least three categories [boys' U-16 Div-I and Div-II and the girls' U-16] on the same day in the evening under floodlights," said Fernandes.

"The Western India Football Association [WIFA], to whom the Cooperage belongs, have been very cooperative for the past several years. They have permitted us to conduct the semis and finals at this venue without charging any fee. We will approach WIFA General Secretary Souter Vaz with this proposal and request him to allow us to use the floodlights for which we are prepared to pay. I am confident he will accept our proposal," added Fernandes.

When informed about MSSA's plans, Vaz said that it should not be a problem to let the school sports body utilise their facility under lights. "WIFA has always given MSSA the ground to use for free. If they [MSSA] are willing to pay for the electricity to use the floodlights, we [WIFA] don't see a problem here," Vaz said.

To defray this cost, MSSA have also knocked on corporate doors. "We have approached a couple of prospective sponsors and are sure they will respond positively," said Fernandes, who also explained that evening matches are good for working parents. "If matches are held in the evenings, working parents can also come to cheer their kids," said Fernandes.

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