Bandra Boys put up a good show in the inaugural franchise based Rink Hockey League
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The first ever franchise-based rink hockey league, where players were paid to participate, was held at the Malad Gymkhana from 1st to 5th December, 2015 under floodlights. Known as the Mumbai Rink Hockey League (MRHL), this tournament was the brainchild of Gavin Ferreira and Cornelius D'Costa, two of India's former hockey stars. Featured amongst the players were names like Adrian D’Souza, Vikram Pillay, Yuvraj Walmiki & others. Six teams of 9 players each, including a star player (Captain), were picked through a draft from a pool of 60-70 top rink hockey players of Mumbai. In addition each team had a coach and manager. Players were graded into star player, Grade A & B as per their age & achievements. The teams had individual sponsors and were divided in to 2 pools. Pool A comprised Wadala Wanderers, Jabaaz Almeidians & U.K. United while Pool B comprised Poisar Pirates, Orlem Vikings & Mumbai Phantoms. The first 3 days were the round robin league matches where teams from pool A played against teams from pool B. The semi-finals & finals were on the 4th & 5th day respectively. The duration of each round robin match was 25 minutes with each half com-
Left to Right: David Cardoza, Joshua Vessoakar, Enrico Fernandes, Lincoln Taites, Wren D’Abreo, Errol D’Silva and Tyron Pereira
prising 12½ minutes, while the semi-finals & finals were of 30 minutes duration. Five players per team could play at a time. A notable feature in this tournament was the change in the penalty push rule. Teams had the option of taking the running stroke (6 seconds) after the second penalty point or the spot push after the third penalty
point. However to avail of the running stroke, the team management had to inform the technical desk immediately after getting the first penalty point & before award of the second penalty point. If this was not done, then the spot push would apply after getting the third penalty point. Six Bandra boys were picked up in the
draft to play namely, Tyron Pereira, Lincoln Taites & Errol D’Silva (Orlem Vikings), Enrico Fernandes (Poisar Pirates), Wren D’Abreo (Wadala Wanderers) and Joshua Vessaokar (Mumbai Phantoms). Another Bandra boy David Cardoza was the Manager of the Mumbai Phantoms. Of these, two had a podium finish namely Enrico Fernandes of the victorious Poisar Pirates & Wren D’Abreo of the third placed Wadala Wanderers. Orlem Vikings which featured 3 Bandra boys, were one of the favourite teams to make the finals. They finished their league matches on equal points with Mumbai Phantoms but were pipped to the semi-final spot on goal difference. The finals & third place were played on 5th December, which had former India player Dhanraj Pillay as the Chief Guest. Poisar Pirates defeated U.K. United 5-1 whereas Wadala Wanderers beat Mumbai Phantoms 8-5 to clinch the third place. The total prize money was Rs 2.5 lakhs. In addition, each team received about Rs 1 lakh to be distributed amongst the team as per their grading. Kudos to the organising committee, especially Gavin Ferreira & Cornelius D’Costa for conducting a very successful tournament and to our Bandra boys, for a superb performance. You certainly made Bandra proud. Dujon Fernandes