It is said that football is not just any game, it’s a universal language. The Mind Over Water Maritime Soccer League (MSL), popularly known as the ‘MSL’, is India’s one and only National football tournament and is one of the most exciting and fun filled events of the maritime industry. Organised by The Naval Connection (TNC), this is an annual event where hundreds of football lovers come together for a day of excitement and sports amidst music, dance and festivities. Authored by Capt. Shoukat Mukherjee, ‘Mind Over Water’ is maritime industry’s first book on Leadership Development and team Building and what more can be more enriching to build effective teams than sports? Teams from as far as Chennai come to attend and play at the MSL each year which makes the tournament truly national.

MSL first happened in 2019 and missed a year in 2020 due to the pandemic. The MSL Season 4 was played at Gallant Sports Turf, Juhu, Mumbai on Sat 18^th Feb where 26 Teams comprising of shipping companies, seafarers and maritime students competed against each other for the prestigious and coveted MSL Championship trophy.

The day started with the inauguration where Capt. Shoukat Mukherjee spoke about the essence of teamwork and how sports always add value to our lives. The participating teams as well as the attending guests all stood to the paying of the National Anthem. Balloons were released by all team managers and then the players and everyone lese danced to the beats of Zumba for a while to break the ice and create a perfect start to the day. It was an electric atmosphere at the ground as hundreds of guests came to cheer their teams to victory.

The format of the tournament is FIFA style where 26 teams are divided into 4 groups – Indian (comprising of students from the maritime colleges), Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic.

In the first stage of the tournament each teams played each other in their respective groups in a league format. Two teams emerged as winners from each group. The group winners were as follows:

From Group India – Team NGT & TSR

From Group Arctic – Team Elegant & MMD

From Group Pacific – HAPAG Lloyd & CMA CGM

From Group Atlantic – AESM & IRS

After this stage the quarter finals were played between the winning teams in the knock out stage. After some riveting and nail-biting games the following 4 teams emerged to the Semi-finals

Teams: NGT, Elegant, Hapag Lloyd, AESM

The Semi-finals were played and the clear winners of the matches went on to play the FINALS of the MSL Season 4.

The finals were played against Hapag Lloyd Vs Elegant.

However before the finals were played, it was time for the semi final losers to play between themselves to decide the second runner up.

The final Tally were as follows:

Winner of MASL Season 4 – Hapag Lloyd

Runner Up – Elegant

Second Runner Up – Anglo Eastern

Mind Over Water Fair Play Award: team NGT

Golden Glove, Best Goalkeeper: Team NGT

Player of the Tournament: from Elegant

Golden Boot: From Elegant

The winning trophy was awarded to Hapag Lloyd (Playing first the first time at any MSL) who danced and celebrated all-round the field. It was a moment of Pomp as the DJ beats reverberated across the ground.

All in all it was a great day of football. There were some unfortunate injuries to the players, which were aptly handled by the paramedics from Globus Medicare. All the awards ere sponsored by HIMT. A donation drive for conducted whereby companies donated stationery to Angle Xpress Foundation for the education of not so privileged street children of Mumbai. Players were all taken well care of as meals and beverages were offered by the organisers as part of the team benefits.

The Tournament some heart aches, some celebrations, some teams left after losing while some stayed on till the end. The finals were streamed Live on the TNC Face Book handle.

One of the most positive side of the tournament was the participation of women players. Many teams such as MMSI and Wilhelmsen hosted women in their teams who played side by side with their male team members and proved that women can play football with equal strengths than men, if not more.

Said Capt. Shoukat Mukherjee during the prize distribution ceremony, “Every year we try to make the MSL better than the previous years. We do certain things better and we learn from certain mistakes. At the end of it all the MSL grows every year and our vision is to take this at the national level and who knows perhaps at the International level as well.”

Three cheers to all the participating teams. After an exciting day, it was the win of the greatest game on earth – Football.

Marex Media

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Organised by The Naval Connection (TNC)

Sponsored by:

HIMT, Awards Partner

Globus Medicare, Health & Safety Partner

Gokal Malad, Hospitality Partner

Angle Xpress Foundation, Caring & Sharing Partner

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Participating Teams:

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For more details please connect

Capt Shoukat Mukherjee

events@thenavalconnection.com

shoukat@thenavalconnection.com

+ 91 9433078830