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A sporting institution
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The commitment to sports at the school level has seen St. Joseph's Boys High School reflect on its alumni with pride
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PHOTO: V. SREENIVASA MURTHY
THE RIGHT SPIRIT Students at SJBHS take a keen interest in participating and viewing inter-school sporting events.
Spotting 'em young is often the best way to discover talent in sports, but to do that you have to have enough tournaments in the various sports disciplines to scout for talent. Bangalore's large number of established schools has been a nursery of talent and St. Joseph's Boys High School must rank high in nurturing sportsmen.
In 1958 when St Joseph's Boys High School completed 100 years, the Principal, Father Biscaro, S.J., and the Sports Secretary of the institution decided to sponsor an inter-school hockey tournament. The event, christened The Centenary Shield Tournament, was to be played among the prominent missionary institutions and since then it has been a major attraction on the inter-school sporting calendar. G. Hoover, MLA, donated the Centenary Shield and the host school has an awesome record in bagging the shield. It has won 26 of the 48 tournaments held.
Multifarious venues
Initially played at the Sullivan Police Ground, the major hockey venue in the city till the Karnataka State Hockey Association built its stadium, the tournament has also been played at the Corps of Military Police ground and has since then shifted the venue to the hockey stadium where the matches are played in the morning sessions. Two years from now, the Centenary Shield will reach a major landmark when it completes its golden jubilee.
Hockey has always been a favoured sport at the St Joseph's Boys High School. Vece Paes is an old boy of the school and internationals Sandeep Somesh and Anil Aldrin among a host of others who have participated in the Centenary Shield. Rahul Dravid was a promising hockey player at SJBHS till he switched over to cricket. Jude Felix from St. Germain has also played in the Centenary Shield with great success. Germain's has bagged the title nine times, including this year.
The three major schools of the city seem to have reached an understanding while sponsoring the popular games. Bishop Cotton's conducted the inter-school cricket tournament while Baldwin's staged the inter-school football tournament.
In 1973, SJBHS decided to perpetuate the memory of Vice-Principal Fr. Eric Vaz, a keen sportsman. An under-14 edition of the hockey tournament was started and the hosts have won this shield 19 out of the 33 it has been held. Ever since it was shifted to the hockey stadium, spectator interest has multiplied manifold. The finals witnesses a large number of the children of the two schools let off from their classes and full-throated cheering reverberates around the stadium. A couple of years ago the rivalry was so intense that instances of skirmishes took place in the stadium. A dismayed Fr. Michael John, Principal of SJBHS, dismayed at this, thereafter ensured that there are enough security personnel deployed around the stadium.
The school takes great pride in the fact that many of its students have excelled at national and international levels. Rahul Dravid, Sadanand Vishwanath, Robin Uthappa have shone around the world while Carlton Saldhana and Fazal Khaleel have played for the State as well as some international matches. Swimmers Hakeemuddin and Rehan Poncha have won national titles while shuttlers Anup Sridhar, Rohan Castelino, Astik Biswas and Rajamanya have brought laurels to the institution. The junior school at SJBHS has won the Cottonian Shield 17 years in a row till 2004.
Charles Noronha, the present Vice-Principal and Sports Secretary, who works tirelessly to stage the hockey matches, said big plans are on the anvil for the golden jubilee of the tournament in 2008.
D. RAVI SHANKAR
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
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