SHANAVAS — WEARING HIS HEART ON HIS STICK

K. ARUMUGAM & ERROL D’CRUZ

This heart beats for hockey. It didn’t let its owner down. It braved open heart bypass surgery and ensured that Shanavas Naduvath Valappil recovered and re-emerged as a Master’s goalkeeper par excellence and an avid traveler who vows to visit every country.

Of course, it needed willpower and hard work by Shanavas to listen to his heart and do its bidding, and the two worked in tandem. The result, seven years after adversity, Shanavas, 50, has fast-tracked his quest and aspirations on the hockey pitch and in the world of travel.

His credo remains the same. Have hockey stick, will travel! Add a goalkeeping kit to his travel gear and a thick passport including visas to 80 countries and you have a globetrotter wielding his stick with pride and aplomb.

Shanavas is determined to complete a century and plans to swell the number of countries he has visited to 100 by the end of 2025. On the hockey pitch, he has more urgent ambitions — that of playing in the Masters World Cup in New Zealand scheduled for November this year.

The Dubai-based Indian citizen from Thalessary, Kerala, declared his aims and ambitions as he packs his gear and travel bag for Nottingham, England, where he will participate in the Masters Indoor World Cup representing Alliance, a team of players from all over the world. “It’s a proud moment, but I’m looking to take it to the next level and that is playing in the outdoor World Cup later this year,” he says.

Say hockey and Shanavas bubbles with excitement. “I took up hockey in the eighth grade at BEMPHS school in Thalessary.” He owes that to lifelong friend Javis Ahamed, a player of sublime skills who drew him to the sport.

“The sports quota helped me secure admission to Brennan College, noted for producing sportspersons,” he reminisced. “I chose to be goalkeeper because that was the only way I could more or less secure a place in teams,” he adds with a chuckle.

The last line of defence was the right choice for Shanavas. He made a mark as a shot-stopper and stuck to the game with a passion and resolve that proved to be a lifelong obsession.

He arrived in Dubai in 1993 as an 18-year-old and is grateful to his sister Shahida and her husband Mashood Maliyakkal who helped him get there. “I naturally packed my gear in the hope of playing hockey in the UAE even though I wasn’t sure the sport was played here. I was delighted, however, to see hockey being played in the UAE and I joined Friends HC, a club comprising mostly players from Mumbai.”

Shahnavas is full of gratitude to Clifford Miranda, a friend of Mashood, who admitted the teenager to the club and became his mentor and support by securing him a job in Lacnor, a company that deals with dairy products. Lacnor not only gave Shahnavas financial security but also expression for his hockey passion. “I blossomed as a player but grew in stature over the years to help poor and disadvantaged players secure jobs in the UAE as well as opportunities to play the sport,” he reveals.

His tireless efforts yielded gainful employment to around 150 young players from India and Shahnavas springs into action when vacancies arise in a search for hockey players as prospective candidates.

“I am particularly pleased that we have provided opportunities to six players from One Thousand Hockey Legs (OTHL), the NGO in New Delhi, India, doing exemplary service for the game under the leadership of Mr K Arumugam,” he says.

Shahnavas’ verve and energy to serve the game took a quantum leap in 1997 when he grew rapidly at Lacnor in a career that now sees him as Head of Sales.

Hockey may be his passion, but he makes it clear to his subordinates that “work comes first, everything else is secondary.” But once the day’s targets are met, all roads lead to the hockey pitch for Shahnavas and his legion.

Shahnavas reveals a watershed moment in the development of hockey in the UAE. “It was in 1996. Javis arrived here and what a boost it was for the sport! Javis was a leading player in South India and his presence kick-started a real hockey journey in the UAE. It also paved the way for numerous players from Kerala coming to the UAE and we were well into identifying skillful players to boost clubs here.”

Shahnavas moved from Friends HC to Solar Lubricants HC and joined his employers’ club Lacnor, deeply grateful to Clifford and Lebanese CEO Fadi Antonios, an avowed sports loyalist who paved the way for the club’s birth.

On the pitch, Shahnavas sparkled in local competitions in the UAE for years before embarking on his first international tour with Lacnor who visited Nottingham in England in 2008. It opened the door to a string of international tours that included multiple trips to Europe, Asia, and North America besides his home country India, of course.

Then came a moment of shock and realization of what Shahnavas declares as the “biggest turning point” in his hockey career. “In 2017 I was diagnosed with a heart condition. After a treadmill test, I was told that I had two completely blocked arteries and another that was 90 percent affected. “I traveled to India for open heart bypass surgery which was successful. But I realized the clock had started ticking and I had to go for it and achieve my dreams.”

“I backed thought with action. I added willpower to it. After all, most of the fight is in the mind,” he says. “After six months, I played my first game after the operation. It wasn’t easy. I felt little strength in my hands, arms, and legs. I thought the wind would blow me away but I kept working day and night to regain my strength. “It took me almost two years to feel fit and strong.”

Shahnawas in blue jersey at the Ramadan league

Shahnavas’ resolve resulted in a spurt of activity on the hockey pitch. Trips to Mexico, Hong Kong, Spain and the UK followed. “I was prepared to go all out,” he says. “And it paid off.”

Shahnavas has a fond connection with his home club UTSC (United Thalessary Sports Club) with which he featured prominently in 6-a-side campaigns in India. He helped UTSC win an event in Hyderabad in 2023 and emerged the best goalkeeper in Mumbai in 2021 where it reached the final. Shahnavas also anchored UTSC to the All-India Masters in Bangalore in 2022, where they went down fighting to Coorg Hawak which had ex-internationals Dhanraj Pillay and Arjun Hallapa.

His race against the clock inspired him to a memorable performance in Valencia, Spain, in 2022. There, Shahnavas helped Hanjipaji, an English club, win the bronze medal beating a German outfit. A year later, another trip to Spain saw the club reach the quarterfinals.

The icing on the cake was the accolade of “best goalkeeper” Shahnavas received in Guadalajara, Mexico, at the Pan American Masters where he thwarted the efforts of many an Olympian opponent to score.

Outside of hockey, Shahnavas has been no less passionate about seeing the world. With 20 more nations to visit to reach the century milestone, he pauses to shortlist the countries he enjoyed touring most of all.

Japan wowed him most of all, especially for its sheer technology. Shahnavas also gushes over the beauty of Iceland. And, he remembers the splendor of the Iguazu Falls which is shared by Argentina and Brazil. Also, rural life in Uruguay was something Shahnavas found endearing.

Shahnavas, who has a son Amer Nawaz who is studying in Canada, and a daughter Alzena Ghazal Nayanveedu, lives in Dubai where his goalkeeping kit is an almost permanent fixture near the doorway. It’s something that Benazeer doesn’t mind. After all, she’s been at her husband’s side through all his campaigns, hockey or otherwise, and it will be no different in the ones to follow as Shahnavas charts out plans to cross further milestones.

FACTFILE (Shanavas Naduvath Valappil):

2023: (For International HC): Pan American Masters Mexico (champions and best goalkeeper for International HC, Mexico)
2023: (For UTSC): Hyderabad Masters champions
2023: European Masters, Spain (lost in QF)
2023 (For UTSC): All-India Masters, Mumbai (lost in final, voted best goalkeeper)
2023: (For International HC) Pan American Masters, Mexico (champions and voted best goalkeeper)
2022: (For Hanjipaji): UK, European Masters, Valencia, Spain. Won bronze medal).
2022: (For UTSC): All India Masters in Bengaluru
2021: (For UTSC): All-India Masters, Mumbai (Lost in Final but won best goalkeeper award)
2019: (For Sharjah RM HC): Malaysian Champions Trophy
2018: (For UTSC): Brunssum, The Netherlands
2017: (For Dubai HC): Hong Kong 6s
2016: (For International HC): Kenyan Hockey League
2008: (For Lacnor): Nottingham tournament

CLUBS PLAYED FOR:
United Thalassery Sports Club (UTSC)
Lacnor Hockey Club
NFPC
Friends Hockey Club
Solar Lubricants
Hanjipaji Hockey Club UK
International HC Mexico
United Thalassery Sports Club

No. of INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENTS PARTICIPATED:

The UK: 4
The Netherlands: 3
Germany: 1
Spain: 2
Croatia: 1
Czech Republic: 1
Malaysia: 1
Oman: 25
Bahrain: 2
Mexico: 1
Hong Kong: 1
India: 5
Qatar: 1
Belgium: 1