“Pele of Parel”

He is just another thin, gawky teenager in a crowd or in the classroom. But on the football field Jazeel Limzerwalla of Don Bosco School, Matunga is all passion and fire, speed and strike.

In a Don Bosco football team dominated by Alvins and Michaels, 13-year-old Limzerwalla with his kusti tassels flying behind him as he crisscrosses the field, is a pleasant rarity.

Captaining the under-14 team, Limzerwalla was in Nagpur to play the All Maharashtra Inter-School Football Tournament organ­ized by the Maharashtra State Sports Association, at the Hislop College grounds. Along with the Don Bosco team and their coach came the ‘Mom Brigade.’ This clutch of five or six mothers accompanies the team when they travel out of Bombay for a match. Standing on the sidelines with water bottles, glucose and plenty of hoarse cheering and shou­ted advice, the ‘Mom Brigade’ surpris­es one with their knowledge of the game and the lingo that goes with it! Jazeel has been playing at the State level for over a year. "He represented Ma-harashtra at the Subroto Mukherjee Cup in Delhi in December 2003,” says Jazeel’s mother Keyan with pride. "He is the youngest player in the All Parsi Men’s Tourna­-ment held between the various Parsi baugs every year, where most players are over 16. Last year he was adjudged ‘Upcoming Player of the Year.’”

Don Bosco came up to the finals in Nagpur but lost to Kolha­pur in a closely contested match. Despite the loss, Jazeel and two others have been selected as part of the Maharashtra Schools team for the forthcoming Inter State Football Tournament in Sagar (Madhya Pradesh).

A special success for Limzerwalla was the victory in the Inter School knockout tournament for boys under 14, where more than 100 schools from all over Bombay participated. Don Bosco played their finals against the Jamnabai Narsee School at the Azad Maidan and romped home with the trophy in convincing style.

Limzerwalla with tournament trophy (inset) and with Vispy Kapadia (right)

Spotted through a selection camp at school, Jazeel has been playing since the age of eight, when he was in Std III. "For the first year, we were groomed in four sports,” says Jazeel. "They were cricket, hockey, basketball and football. After that, with guidance from our coach, we could choose the game we wanted to excel in. I enjoy and play all ball games but football is my first love!”

For his excellence in sports, Jazeel and his mother give full credit to the school. "Our grounds are beautiful, our coaches are terrific and we are encouraged and well taken care of on and off the field, in and outside Bombay,” says the teenager.

Jazeel’s finest quality is his enthusiasm for everything, says Keyan. Academics do suffer, but in spite of loss of class­room hours given to practice and tournaments, Jazeel scores 80-85 percent in his exams. He also takes active part in debates, elocutions and other extracurricular activities.

"My goal is to play in the EPL (English Premier League),” says Jazeel with confidence. "My favorite team is Real Madrid and my hero... is Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid’s French player.”

This "Pele of Parel” is one of three brothers living in Finlay Towers on Parel Tank Road. Jazeel and twin Jehan were born ‘preemies,’ barely tipping the scale at two kg each! While father Firdosh and Keyan have actively encouraged their sons all these years, they are firm in their opinion that sports will have to take a back seat once he enters Class IX. Jazeel prefers not to think about that yet and enjoy what football he can!

Dilnavaz Bhagwagar