Air Marshal (Retd) TS Randhawa, VM. He is the former Commandant, National Defence Academy
Football: An inspiration for Infrastructure Development
T
he spring term of 1969 at the National Defence Academy (NDA) was an interesting term. We three course mates and classmates, albeit from different squadrons, all sergeants, would march in the seniority of the squadron which was doing the best in the inter squadron games being held. Most of our course mates knew of this and didn’t have to calculate the positions of at least three squadrons in the current game being played. Not that it mattered to the Academy, but it reflected the competitiveness and high squadron spirit amongst us. This peculiar procedure, I believe, was also a motivator to our junior cadets, as some of them saw us as role models. As things transpired that term, my squadron was to play the Inter squadron football semi-final match against my course mate’s squadron. The result of the match would decide our marching order and was thus even more important for both
32 July 2011 purple beret
of us. The build up was intense. Both squadrons practised hard in order to win. There were regular talks by the respective squadron football captains to the teams and the squadron cadets. When the time came both teams were pumped up and a tremendous match was played. Both teams had a number of players who were members of the Academy football team. The match was finally decided by a solitary goal late in the second half. The other memory of that match was the large number of injuries that both teams sustained. Since it was a match in which no quarters were given, this was bound to happen. A major contributor was the very ground we played on. It was a hard mud ground with some grass. Remember the red clay soil of Maharashtra. That very one was responsible for most of our injuries. That is how games were played in the NDA then. The details of the match have intentionally not been given as this
