Despite the team’s winless streak in the last 13 matches with only three points in their kitty so far in the ongoing Bengal Super League (BSL), Kopa Tigers Birbhum has found at least one gain.
That is the rise of Marshal Hembram. The wing-half has earned accolades from the team’s chief coach, Georgi Kostadionov Raev, for his speedy runs down the flanks and ball-control.
Marshal hails from Chaklai, a village in the Hooghly district. The village witnessed one more footballer who earned eligibility to play in the mainstream of Bengal football. He was Karthik Hansda, who presently plays for Diamond Harbour FC.
Marshal’s parents, father Shuklal Hembram and mother Shefali Hembram, both are farmers, work on others’ lands while Marshal’s elder brother works as a delivery boy.
It was Shuklal Hembram whose effort guided Marshal to take football as a profession for the future. Shuklal used to play the game and took Marshal to the ground almost every evening. Marshal revealed, “I used to watch my father sitting outside the ground and gradually fell in love with the game.”
The 18-year-old footballer simultaneously expressed gratitude to Sanjoy Nandi. Nandi runs a coaching centre at Chaklai, BN Football Academy. Marshal was admitted there at the age of 12 only, and Nandi has a ‘noble’ habit of nurturing potential youngsters, keeping them at his home. He spotted Marshal’s potential and, after coming to know about the footballer’s financial crisis.
Marshal added, “We were five youngsters. We used to stay at Sanjoy sir’s home for five years. We were provided with everything. Only, we had to cook our lunch and dinner.”
Marshal spent five years at the village football academy, learned the basics of the game. But those basics were polished after he left the academy, thanks to his father’s relentless effort. “Father took me to the ground almost every evening, encouraged me to do the hard work for the improvement of my basics,” added Marshal.
Marshal has a natural speed. He could not continue study after the fourth standard but his first school at Chaklai took him to Inter-School athletics competitions. He always finished first in the 400 meters and 200 meters events. He used to go to Paundua rail station riding cycle for 15 kilometeres to catch train. Marshal says that helped him to gain strength on legs.
