During the 1980s, students enrolled in Wellington universities, polytechs and high schools dominated the Fiji community.
Some graduates were employed but remained active within the student community.
These overseas students kicked around with a soccer ball on most weekends and as with Fijians anywhere in the world, individual groups formed various soccer teams.
Many of the students of Victoria University lived in the city on one of the main streets – The Terrace, and hence, the Terrace Soccer team was established in 1983.
A majority of polytech students lived in the suburb of Newtown and formed the Newtown Soccer team, which later branched out to establish the Wellington Polytechnic team.
Among the others were Muslim A and B, and University teams representing the Fijian community in the Capital.
The emergence of a Sangam team and regular participation by the Massey University Fiji team from Palmerston North strengthened Fiji soccer with up to 10 Fiji community teams playing in annual soccer tournaments held in Wellington.
The pioneers
The Terrace Soccer team was a champion side in the 1980s and was the envy of many due to its fair share of success and popularity.
Among its pioneers were Ganeshwar Goundar, Vineshwar Goundar, Joe (Manager), Amos Reddy, Manohar Singh, Jitend Prasad, Rakesh Ramritu (Mr Cool), Salendra Kumar (Muldoon), Abdul Izaz, Arveen Sharma, Neil Sharma, Sashi (Maradona), Praneel Dutt, Kris Bali, Nalin Pratap, Shalendra Pratap (Kaka), Hari Ram, Dewak Ram, Ravindra Narayan, and Sanjay Bagia (Bale Raniga).
Since the early 1990s, many other players had their stint with the team, but some of the key players mentioned above held the team together in its 30 years of existence.
Over a period of time, with the demise of other teams from the early era, Polytech teammates (Abhinesh, Arunesh, Sanjesh, Penvel Raju, Sujendra and Jayant Lal) and Muslim A teammates (Sanjeev and Kanak Kumar) joined the team to ensure that the Terrace legacy continues.
Terrace Soccer
Since the last few years, the Terrace Soccer team has been playing competitive league under the Wellington United Club.
Last month, Wellington United (the Terrace) beat its archrivals Karori by 6-1 in one of its league matches. The team still plays in open grade rather than veterans and has a couple of dads playing alongside their talented sons – Jayant Lal with his sons Yateshay and Amitesh, and Ravindra Narayan with his son Pranav.
One of the main persons behind the success or existence of the team has been Ganeshwar Goundar, former captain, coach and manager.
Dedicated enthusiast
Goundar mentioned that the secret to the team’s success was due to ‘friendship and respect.’ This is a modest comment from a humble and a genuine sportsman.
The team would agree that the success was due to Goundar’s years of dedication and determination to ensure the survival and competitiveness of the team.
This man has been a true leader and strongly believes that ‘success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.’
As an ethical leader, Goundar raised the bar even higher to ensure teammates were a reflection of him.
Inspiring leader
In the formative days, he clearly communicated his vision to the team and ensured that the entire group, including players and supporters had the same goal.
Goundar expected the team to work hard and produce quality football and as a true leader, he led by example during training and on the field.
By proving his commitment to the team and holding his head above water in any situation, he earned the respect of not only his teammates, but also that of all other teams and the Fiji community in Wellington and Auckland.
Since its beginning in 1983, the team has weathered many storms and experienced many rough patches on its journey to achieve a high level.
The team has been blessed by an inspirational leader, who knows what he wants and how to get there. Goundar occasionally trains with current and former players and continues to provide moral support.
He is now more verbal from the sidelines as the team responsibility and leadership has been taken over by Jayant Lal, another long-term veteran of the sport.
Goundar, Jayant and all former and current players have raised the professional standard of the game, which other Fiji teams in New Zealand and Australia will be unable to match, especially in relation to the duration of the team’s existence and achievements.
Arveen Sharma is the founding member of Auckland Ba (established in 1981) and played soccer for Miramar Rangers and Seatoun clubs in Wellington in the 1980s. He is now Communication and Public Relations Officer of the Australia Fiji Soccer Association based in Canberra. The group picture here shows back row (from left) Goundar, Sanjesh, Illyas, Jayant, Arunesh, Jayesh, Sujendra, Mahesh, Amitesh, Joe and Arveen Sharma; Front row (from left) – Sanvjeev, Abhinesh, Yateshay, Penvel (Goalkeeper) Shaniel and Ravind
Photo Two: Current captain Jayant Lal with sons Yateshay and Amitesh and brother Yashwant
Photo Three: Old teammates, Arveen Sharma and Ganeshwar Goundar
