Students of the General Education Academy (GEA), Chembur were left in tears after the last ball was delivered at the final match of the Harris Shield Cricket Tournament in an epic clash against Swami Vivekanand International School (SVIS), Borivali.
Following the thrilling final, the players of the U-16 cricket tournament set aside their emotions and congratulated each other at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai. The school had participated in the tournament for the very first time and reached the finals.
The 3-day match also witnessed great battle from both the teams but in the end it was SVIS which stood victorious. However everyone present there applauded the Boys of GEA for their resilience performance. Even the coach of the winning side, Mahesh Lothlekar praised the GEA. He said, "The opposition team was really brilliant and it was a nail-biting match. I have never seen such a final clash at this level."
The coach of the GEA, Aniket Surve was awarded the best coach for the under-16 category in the tournament. One of the parents watching his child play in the stadium said, "The credit goes to the coach for his efforts as he has put up a fabulous team."
Worked Hard
Aniket Surve while speaking to the Free Press Journal (FPJ) said that before the tournament began they worked very hard. He said, "We used to practise with rubber balls. During monsoon season, the students attended fitness camps as there were no matches due to rains." He added, "We also went to different cities within the state for tour games due to which players had confidence and allowed them to play with ease."
On asking what difference he created at the school level, Surve said, "I bring the same culture which I used to follow while I was playing cricket at my academy."
11 year-old participated in Tournament
"My aim was to bring back the cricket which was played earlier when we used to play for long sessions unlike today’s short format cricket”, he added Students as young as 11 also showcased their talent, Shardul Fagare ; a class 6th student of GEA was the youngest player in the tournament who made 46 runs in the final match.
The executive secretary for the General Education Academy, Naresh Shenoy in an interaction with the FPJ said, “Every coach wants his team to be the best and in this process Mr. Surve has taken a lot of efforts hence the team proved to be the best.”
Parents are now taking keen interest in sports after this tournament, Shenoy said, “Me and Manali (Madame) keep telling parents about the importance of sports. After this achievement students and parents have actually started realising the same.
The School has also won awards in other sports like carrom, Shot Put and Yoga at district level. On balancing academics and extra-curricular, Shenoy said, “Academics is the backbone of every educational institution and ours is not an exception to this. But we realise that sports is also an essential part for school children, which is taken care of by our institution.
