Confident girls played like professionals: MSSA’s Fr Jude

mid-day Ranis of Rink 2024 champions Arya Vidya Mandir (Juhu) receive their trophy and medals from chief guest Fr Jude Rodrigues (centre), President of the Mumbai Schools Sports Association

Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA) President Fr Jude Rodrigues was all praise for the professionalism with which girls from eight schools competed in the mid-day Ranis of Rink 2024 at the Neville D'Souza turf, Bandra, last week.

"This is the third year that mid-day is organising this inter-school girls football competition, and it's a wonderful initiative by them. The talent on view was fantastic. These girls were playing like professionals. Some of their moves and skills were unbelievable. They were even passing the ball back to their goalkeeper which speaks a lot of their confidence levels and training methods," said Fr Rodrigues, who was the chief guest for the third edition of the tournament and presented the winners trophies and medals.

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mid-day Ranis of Rink 2024 runners-up Rustomjee Cambridge (Dahisar) receive their trophy and medals from Udayan Banerjee (seventh from left), Hon Treasurer of the Mumbai Football Association

Rustomjee Cambridge (Dahisar) head coach Sunny D'Souza was appreciative of the unique experience that mid-day Ranis of Rink offered. "I have coached this group of girls for the last seven years but we have played 5v5 rink football on an inter-school level for the first time. It's an altogether different and exciting format and is great exposure for the girls. We knew that AVM [Juhu] would be tough competition and right enough they emerged champions," he said.

mid-day Ranis of Rink 2024 bronze medallists AVM (Bandra) with mid-day Infomedia Ltd MD & CEO Vikas Joshi (left)

Bombay International (Babulnath) head coach Jyoti Alva was delighted with the smooth conduct of the tournament. Her team did not begin the tournament well, losing tamely to Dhirubhai Ambani International School (Bandra) and Apostolic Carmel, but bounced back to put up a tough 2-3 fight against eventual bronze medallists AVM (Bandra). Jiya Mehta and Jianna Shah scored a goal each for Bombay International and Alva said her girls can only benefit from this experience. "This is a great opportunity for the girls and I'm very grateful to mid-day for organising this tournament so well each year," said Alva.

Sandeep Mehta, father of Rustomjee Cambridge defender Alisha, was also all praise for the tournament. "Firstly, there is no entry fee and all the teams are provided refreshments. There is also a physiotherapist to attend to injuries. Our girls are definitely treated like Ranis here," said Mehta.