Football fever grips Colaba as Colaba Super League is all set for kick off

by Kaushal Shukla April 25, 2015

Colabaites are gearing up for the biggest footballing party ever to be held in Colaba as the Colaba Super League is all set to get underway come Sunday. Over 200 players from the suburb will hit the football field out with eight franchises battling it out for the ultimate prize.

The Colaba Super League (CSL) is an exclusive football league for the suburb with players from Machimar Nagar, Ambedkar Nagar and Colaba Market area making it a huge platform for budding footballers in the area. The Back Garden Football Ground in Colaba will play host to the CSL which will be played across the weekends of April, May and June beginning from 26th April 2015.

Aadhar Pratishthan a registered NGO in Colaba is the title sponsor of the CSL. Aadhar Pratishthan has been tirelessly working for the upliftment of the poor and marginalised segments of society for many years and sees the CSL as a tool to inculcate the values like hardwork, teamwork, motivation and discipline in the youth of these segments.

With just two days to go for the big kick off, we take a look at the 8 teams participating and look what they have in their respective lockers.

Team Name	Goalkeepers	Defenders	Midfielders	Strikers
Golden Tigers	Pravesh Chavan (HDFC Bank), Virendra Tandel (Sachiwalay)	Piram Master (PIFA C – 1st Division), Sachin Narsappa (RBI – 1st Division), Kunal Tandel (Open), Somesh Singh (Open)	Akash Khadka (Air India U-19 – Super Division), Pramod Yadav (Dena Bank – Elite Division), Rahil Guliwala (B.O.I – Super Division), Noel Rodricks (Dena Bank – Elite Division)	Ritesh Satte (Malwani FC – 3rd Division), Venkatesh Srinivas (PIFA C – 1st Division), Sudhil Kaunde (Open)
Hina Royals	Hitesh P (Air India U-19 – Super Division), Harshad Tandel (PIFA C – 1st Division)	Kalpesh Nijap (Sagar FC – 2nd Division), Nikesh Meher (Sagar FC – 2nd Division), Yogesh Meher (Sagar FC – 2nd Division), Ravi Ghadi (Central Railway MU – Super Division)	Saurabh Meher (B.O.I – Super Division), Yogendra Meher (PIFA C – 1st Division), Sandesh Tandel (Sagar FC – 2nd Division), Dhiraj Meher (Open)	Lavesh Patil (B.O.I – Super Division), Ravi Rathod (Open), Ganesh Tandel (Sagar FC)
Yash Warriors	Kishen Sulegai (KSA – Elite Division), Ronak Solanki (Mumbai FC U-17 – 3rd Division)	Tejas Raut (U.B.I – Elite Division), Ravi Bagdi (Mumbai FC U-19 – Super Division), Karan Bhoir (Open), Jayendra Meher (Sagar FC – 2nd Division), Eranna Vardari (Christ Church FC – 3rd Division), Shabbir Shaikh (KSA – Elite Division)	Prathamesh Kasare (Air India U-19 – Super Division), Bhavesh Vaidya (Sachiwalay – 2nd Division), Sunil Rathod (Magic Bus – 1st Division)	Ramakant Pawar (Mumbai FC U-19 – Super Division), Chirag Baria (CFC – 1st Division)
Naaz United	Manish Shetty (Steadfast FC – 1st Division), Rahul Khotkar (Open)	Walter Liu (Bombay Gymkhana – Super Division), Balram Patil (B.O.I – Super Division), Vaibhav Tandel (Sagar FC – 2nd Division), Karan Dhanu (Open)	Akshay Pawar (PIFA C – 1st Division), Lakhan Lokhande (B.O.I – Super Division), Ganesh Tandel (Sagar FC – 2nd Division), Rashin Shaikd (Central Railways – Elite Division), Mohsin Alabux (Open)	Karim Shaikh (Central Railways – Elite Division), Mohsin Khan (Dena Bank – Elite Division)
Hirrai Suns	Vikas Gupta (B.B.I – Super Division), Kundan Dhanu (Open)	Omkar Bhaye (Air India U-19 – Super Division), Aftab Khan (PIFA C – 1st Division), Sudarshan Kamat (Dhobitalaw FC – 1st Division), Haresh Golar (Open)	alentine Pereira (KSA – Elite Division), Anil Rathod (Magic Bus – 1st Division), Nitin Rao (Bharat F.C – 1st Division)	Deepak Kanojia (Magic Bus – 1st Division), Saif Shaikh (PIFA C – 1st Division), Pravesh Khatti (Dena Bank – Elite Division)
Brainy World	Manish Bhoir (B.M.C – 1st Division), Manoj Meher (ICL – 1st Division)	Dhurwesh Nijap (Dena Bank – Elite Division), Rupesh Meher (B.O.I – Super Division), Rajesh Tare (Sagar FC – 2nd Division), Devdal Patil (Open), Kunal Dhanu (Open)	Charles Fernandes (Dhobi Talaw FC – 1st Division), Chetan Tandel (UBI – Elite Division), Praful Bhoir (B.E.S.T. – 2nd Division), Bhavik Tandel (Open)	Hemant Meher (Dena Bank – Elite Division), Akash Rathod (KSA – 3rd Division)
Konnark	Chetan Dhanu (Dena Bank – Elite Division), Sagar Pagdhare (B.O.I – Super Division)	Bhagwan Patil (B.O.I – Super Division), Chirag Walmiki (Air India U-19 – Super Division), Somveer Mehrol (PIFA C – 1st Division), Janu Tandel (ICL – 1st Division)	Mrunal Tandel (UBI – Elite Division), Shubham Patil (Christ Church FC – 3rd Division), Nitesh Monde (ONGC – Elite Division), Aditya Controllu (PIFA C – 1st Division), Haresh Bhoir (Open)	Hassan Rizvi (SBI – Super Division), Jayesh Bhoir (PIFA C – 1st Division)
Kalakaar Indians	Sagar Mistry (B.E.S.T – 2nd Division), Gautam Kanojia (GM – 2nd Division)	Sudhant Jadhav (Dena Bank – Elite Division), David D’Souza (Malvani FC – 3rd Division), Chetan Naik (SBI – Super Division), Vishal Peewar (B.O.I – Super Division)Faisal Shaikh (PIFA C – 1st Division), Vinayak Watdande (ICL – 1st Division)	Anil Pawar (Western Railways – Elite Division), Dhiraj Mistry (B.O.I – Super Division)	Roger Sam (KSA – Elite Division), Akshay Raut (Sagar FC -2nd Division), Milind Meher (Open)

Apart from the main category the CSL will conduct a U-14 tournament and various grassroot programmes for kids. A Women’s League is also on the CSL agenda as it bids to do its bit to promote football in the southern suburb of the city.

The CSL is backed by some super sponsors in the shape of
1. Mumbai FC (Co-Sponsors)
2. Jaffer Bhai’s Delhi Darbar (Co-Sponsors)
3. Kailash Parbar Hindu Hotel
4. Muscle & Mind Gym, Colaba
5. Nivia
6. Football Mind
7. Procam Sports
8. Mittal Builders
9. Sasoon Dock Matsya Ganga Co-op Credit Society

The CSL looks like a brilliant initiative to promote and grow football in Colaba, a suburb which has always thrown up some real footballing talent. Colaba is set for some enthralling football in the coming days and there has been a lot of buzz in the suburb. So with the crowd expected to pour in, the CSL promises to be a spectacle.