One year of lockdown: When sport was cheated badly

By Ashwin Ferrro Sundari Iyer and Subodh MayureWhen the COVID19 pandemic struck a year ago just like the rest of the world Mumbairsquos local sports scene was abruptly halted But the players administrators officials and ground staff didnrsquot know that this was anything but a brief halt And that it would impact their lives so severely with jobs and livelihoods of many lost with widespread salary reductionsA year later while everyone is grateful at the possibility of life crawling back to normal the aftereffects of the lengthy break are most visibleldquoWe resumed cricket coaching around January this year and it is evident that the boys have lost touch due to the Coronavirusforced break Now they have to work hard all over again to cover this backlogrdquo Manish Rumde who runs Rumde Cricket Academy at United Cricketers in Cross Maidan told middayCricket coach Manish Rumde and MSSA groundsman Rakesh GaudMoney obviously remains a cause for concern ldquoGiven the financial difficulties that most people have faced with job losses and salary cuts many parents are struggling to pay the feesrdquo added RumdelsquoBig reliefrsquoFor the hardworking groundsmen who toiled across the cityrsquos empty maidans throughout the lockdown the sight of young kids once again filling up the grounds is heartening ldquoItrsquos a big relief that cricket nets and matches have started again Though there was a lockdown March to December and empty grounds we groundsmen and curators continued working on cricket pitches because if we had to leave them unattended they would have been ruined Now it feels great to see cricketers back on the same grounds after nearly a yearrdquo said groundsman Deepchandra Bari 55 who works at the Karnatak Sporting Association KSA Ground at Cross MaidanldquoThank God this lockdown is over I would never wish these hardships even on my enemies Kaam nahi hoga toh paisa nahi tha aur paisa nahi toh khaana kaha se milega with no work there was no money and without money how can we get food Bhagwan se prarthana hai ab sab normal hi rahe I pray to God that everything remains normal nowrdquo said groundsman Santosh Gaur 40 who has been with KSA for the last nine yearsGroundsmen Santosh Gaur left and Deepchandra Bari at Karnatak Sporting Association Cross MaidanMatungarsquos Dadkar Maidanbased bat repairer Gangadhar Devlekarrsquos business shut almost overnight due to the COVID19 situation ldquoI used to repair almost five to six bats daily but with all cricket activity suddenly shutting last March I ran out of work Throughout the lockdown I had no work I still kept going to the ground with hope but no work came my way so I went back to my village in Mahad When I returned to Mumbai after a few months cricketing activities had only resumed at Azad Maidan and Shivaji Park The Matunga ground was the last to start cricket around December and my family celebrated the resumption as though it was a festivalrdquo said a relieved DevlekarSalary cutsThe Mumbai Schools Sports Association MSSA ground at Azad Maidan normally is a hub of footballing activity throughout the year but 2020 was unprecedented and abnormal said MSSA groundsman Rakesh Gaud ldquoAs there was no work throughout the lockdown initially we were not getting salaries Then midday highlighted our plight and we started getting paid again Otherwise I donrsquot know what would have happened to our familiesrdquo stated GaudYoung footballer Dhruv Yogeshwar 15 a Class 10 student of St Francis DrsquoAssisi High School Borivli has been caught offside by the COVID19 situation ldquoI was part of the U14 Maharashtra team in 201819 but last year there were no state selections due to the pandemic so I missed out on making the U15 state team I lost a year Now when the selections for U17 happen Irsquom not sure Irsquoll make the cut because Irsquom lacking match practice Irsquom also missing out on playing MSSA interschool football in my final year of schoolrdquo said DhruvFootballer Dhruv YogeshwarNot just footballers even referees have been affected adversely by the pandemic situation ldquoItrsquos been a horrible time Many of us referees who are also parttime football coaches lost our coaching jobs because all activity at football academies across Mumbai Thane and Navi Mumbai were halted Our income suffered and we had to make do with the pending match fees that we managed to collect from previous tournaments conducted before the lockdown Thankfully the Bombay Refereesrsquo Association BRA was kind enough to realise our hardship and supported us with financial assistance in the form of a repayable interestfree loan from the BRArsquos benevolent fund Each referee who required financial help received a sum of R5000 for a couple of months Around 20 referees took advantage of this scheme Additionally some of the senior referees who have secure corporate jobs came forward to help the juniors in different capacities like providing them ration and some funds for daily expenses Thankfully football activity has resumed and most of the academies too have started their training so things are looking good for us now It will still take a few months for us to settle down though as we have to first repay the loans some of us have taken but I think our situation will improve going forwardrdquo explained a city referee who did not wish to be namedHockey activity in the city also has been dead for nearly a year The Mumbai Hockey Association Limited MHAL has not conducted any activity at its Churchgate stadium since the 54th All India Bombay Gold Cup Hockey Tournament in February 2020 Sadly MHAL staffers have struggled to tackle staggered wages ldquoThe MHAL management has been paying salaries to its employees including groundsmen and other utility workers regularly but in parts For some months we were paid 5060 per cent of our salaries but we are not complaining as it is something better than nothing Thankfully during the festive periods two months we received our full salaryrdquo said Kumar a senior manager with MHALMSSA hockey secretary Lawrence Bing was grateful to Hockey India and the state authorities for permitting him to conduct the cityrsquos first competitive hockey tournament in the form of the Winter Rink Hockey event at St Dominic Savio High School Andheri last month ldquoIrsquom both happy and proud to see hockey resume in our city again We conducted the tournament for U14 and U16 boys and girls women and men and it was a huge success It just goes to show how eager our children are to come out and play I hope there are more such hockey tournaments across the city soonrdquo said BingInterestingly the cityrsquos badminton fraternity was largely unaffected by the COVID19 chaos ldquoMost of our referees umpires judges and almost all coaches are employed with different government and private companies while the court markers work with the various gymkhanas and clubs in the city So all have been getting their salaries from their respective employers And now with the government permitting training for individual sports with certain SOPs normalcy will soon return to badminton courts We are awaiting permission from the state government to start competitions Once we get the green signal from them we will commence our tournaments across the cityrdquo said Greater Mumbai Badminton Association Secretary Mangirish PalekarlsquoWorst is behind usrsquoMSSA president Fr Jude Rodrigues has a positive outlook towards the future despite the gloomy past ldquoI feel the worst is behind us and the future can only get better as the vaccine is slowly but surely administered to all Itrsquos only a matter of time before the state authorities approve the fullfledged commencement of sporting activities and competitions at all levels including MSSA tournaments Sport has this unique power to heal and spread joy to both players and spectators alike and that can only be good for everyonerdquo said Fr RodriguesWith inputs from Gordon DrsquoCosta