Francis Noronha
17:22 (7 minutes ago)
Hilary Fernandes
When I graduated from high school, there were about twenty talented students in the grades just before and after mine with extraordinary abilities in field hockey. They were fortunate that our English teacher, Mr. Anthony D'Souza, was not only an excellent English teacher but also a brilliant hockey coach. He was very demanding both in the classroom and on the hockey field. He had played with the famous Lusitanians, the best hockey team in India and possibly the world, at that time. With Mr. Anthony (as we all called him) as their coach and mentor, that core of players became a force to be reckoned with. At least seven made it to the Olympics, several to the Worlds and all covered themselves in glory in local and international competitions. As I knew all of them well, I was one of their most vocal fans. I would readily have given up some of my good grades to be in their ranks, but alas it was not to be.
One of them was Hilary Fernandes. He was a lethal attacker, one of the highest scorers from his inside right position. He read the game perfectly and knew exactly where to flick the ball to give his team a chance to score. No wonder he was a three-time Olympian!
I admired his prowess as a hockey player but little knew that he was a musician as well. A friend sent me this video of him playing one of my favourite songs of yesteryear "Autumn Leaves.'
Some hockey player! Some saxophonist!
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