http://www.nation.co.ke/sports/hockey/Requim-mass-held-for-legendary-hockey-player/1108-3848402-241mni/index.html
Monday March 13 2017
Friends and relatives accompany the body of former Kenyan hockey player
Alexinho Mendonca during a requiem mass in Kileleshwa, Nairobi on March
13, 2017. PHOTO | COURTESY |
Kenya’s hockey
legend and Olympian Alexinho Eduardo Mendonca, known to all as ‘Alu’,
was on Monday honoured by family, friends and former team mates during a
requiem mass to celebrate his peerless sporting life.
Scores
trooped to the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Kileleshwa, Nairobi, for
the farewell mass of the former Kenya hockey captain, rated by his
peers as the finest left winger in world hockey, in his day.
He
represented Kenya as a player in four editions of the Olympics - 1956,
(Melbourne), 1960 (Rome), 1964 (Tokyo) and 1968 (Mexico City). He was
captain in Rome. During the mass, no tears were shed, but joy radiated
amongst the congregation during the service, that begun promptly at 11am
and ended two hours later.
An echo of the simplicity
of the great Alus’ own life, their was no funeral programme printed, no
official photographers and no videos taken either!
Alu,
who took his final bow on March 10 at the Nairobi Hospital aged 85, was
born in Goa and was among the pioneering Goan and Sikh hockey players
who placed Kenya on the global hockey map; just prior to independence in
1963 and throughout the 70s.
At Kileleshwa, the
tribute was read by his son-in-law Shaun Barretto who is married to his
daughter Cora-Lisa. Taking pride of place in the front pew of the church
was the Sikh Union battalion comprising former Olympians and Kenya
internationals.
Undoubtedly a testament to their huge respect for their once formidable club foe, Alu.
Among
the former hockey players who attended were Rawesh Balla, Gurchanan
Singh, Surjit ‘Junior’ Sindhi and the one and only Avtar Singh Sohal
‘’Tari’. Tari was himself a formidable left full back for Sikh Union and
Kenya.
As Sohal and Sindhi removed the two hockey
sticks from atop the simple brown mahogany coffin, and then were joined
by their fellow Olympians in placing the coffin in the hearse, all
assembled knew that an unforgettable part of Kenya’s sporting history,
had just come to a close.
Thank you for the memories, great man.
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