Dubai: Honor for Hockey player Carl Mathias

Carl Mathias, the skipper of Emarat hockey team, will be honoured with a benefit match on Friday at the Dulsco ground, Al Qouz, Dubai at 4.30pm. Mathias, one of the longest serving hockey players in the UAE, is one of the most successful centre forwards and has led Emarat to many successes over the past few seasons.

"I am lucky that I happened to play for the best teams in the UAE and due to this I had opportunities to tour abroad many times," said Mathias. "I specially thank Ali Khan, the manager of the Emarat team, for organising the benefit match and Dulsco Sports Club for hosting it," he said. Mathias, an accountant at Silvertech Engineering in Dubai, has played in England, Scotland, Kenya, Singapore, Malaysia, Oman and India and represented a number of top UAE teams including Dnata, Sharjah Tigers and Emarat.

Having learnt the game at St. Aloysious College, Mangalore, India, under  the late Benjamin D'Souza, he went to represent Hindustan Machine Tools, a super division team in Bangalore. In 1988 he was the top scorer and helped the side to finish third in the division.
His first team in Dubai was Dnata under manager Raul Fernandes, underlining his skills in his first tournament where he was chosen as the best upcoming player.

In 1997, Mathias, by now one of the feared forwards in local leagues, moved to the Sharjah Tigers, under the management of Edwin D'Cruz. Like at Dnata where he formed a lethal partnership with then captain Hanif Khan, Mathias forged a strong combination with Feroze Khan, helping Sharjah Tigers to win a hat-trick of titles.