Nine teams from five Jesuit institutions from across the Jesuit Bombay Province assembled on 15^th August 2014 to celebrate Independence Day at St. Stanislaus High School, Bandra.  Flag hoisting and singing of the national anthem began at 7.30am sharp.

Two teams each from Holy Family, Andheri, St. Mary’s SSC, St. Mary’s ICSE and host St. Stanislaus along with a team from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai played in a round robin Independence Day football league.  Five teams played in the ‘A” Division and four in the “B” Division.

St. Stanislaus “A” team surprised all with their youth and comprised alumni from the 2014 batch. With their speed and skill they opened up rival defenses easily. However the experience and strength of their older rivals eventually wore them down and they did not go beyond the group stage. Last year’s winners Holy Family “A” seemed to continue where they left off from last year with their delightful one touch football. The “B” Division was dominated the Holy Family team. St. Mary’s ICSE played their usual no holds barred rugged football. St. Xavier’s College who were participating for the first time surprised everyone with their skill and speed. The big surprise of this tournament was the other debutants St. Mary’s SSC. While their “B” division team battled in their division. Their “A” division team played with calm authority and did not lose a game in the group stage.

St. Mary’s SSC and Holy Family met in the “A” Division final. The very calm and strong Mary’s SSC midfield kept the marauding Holy Family team at bay and eventually won convincingly 3-1.

The “B” Division final was evenly contested between Holy Family and St. Mary’s ICSE with neither team being able to break the others defense. Holy Family eventually won 1-0 in a very closely contested match.

The JAAB (Jesuit Alumni Associations of Bombay Province) team spoke briefly about the Fit4Education – “A personal fitness for causes” program being run by JAAB across the Bombay Province and introduced Jesuit alumnus Bipin Satvi (Gnanmata School Talasari) who will represent JAAI at the Mumbai Marathon 2015. Post-match alumni enjoyed fellowship with all on field rivalries forgotten.

Thanks to SSESA for hosting the event and JAAB for coordinating the event.  Special Thanks to alumnus Denzil Rego,   Hycinth Cardoz, Referees Afra & Stan and the SSESA team who worked hard to make this event a grand success.

Many alumni present requested JAAB to also consider organizing an inter-Jesuit alumni cricket tournament.

Pictures courtesy Rosario Fernandes (St. Mary’s ICSE) and Robert Raj (St. Stanislaus)