KoP Rocks

By Om Pankha

Vancouver. Nov. 28. The Nepali - King of Pop - Om Bikram Bista rocked the Yetis @HimNite `09, an annual party hosted by Himalayan Soccer Club of Vancouver, BC. The N-KoP was not only busy rocking with his top numbers but was gleaming with smile to honor few yetis for their performance on-field and support off-field.
Well, well well, if you have tackled this little Pele Lhundup Sherpa in the field, you will know how helpless you felt loosing the ball, chasing him frantically and returning panting to your side with another lost goal! Yeah!! Today, Lhundup was awarded for doing all that to you! Fittingly, The Best Player of the Season was awarded amidst loud cheers in this august gathering to Lhundup.
Today, when we talk of Sunday attendance and seasonal performance of Neelo & Raato teams, we owe to captains. Gone are the days when we blame it on A yeti, B yeti, C yeti...for player punctuality and team performance, today, it is much easier to lodge our compliments and supplements to our Captains! This season witnessed some active inputs and leadership from the two caps which brought healthy competition, motivation and excitement all through the season. Aptly, Suman Bimali and Anuj Singh, the captains of Raato and Neelo teams, were honoured for their outstanding leadership and contribution for the 2009 Season. @HimSoc, when it comes to designing posters and printing tickets for all of himsoc`s program and events, the name of one yeti stands out...Yes, you guessed it right, Laxman Shrestha was honoured for his continued support to HimSoc. Royal Banquet Hall was jam packed with more than two hundred yeti guests to party or pose a quick pic with OM BIKRAM BISTHA! Local talents rocked the entertainment line-up for the first half of the nite. The stage lit up with bright performance from all shapes and sizes, like master Jamling Sherpa
jiving like a little Bollywood hero, Dechen Sherpa performing like Hana Montana, Angelica Shakya & Maya Bajracharya dancing like queens, yetis Niraj and Pritam performing their top numbers, yeti Anish Koirala guitaring his talents with Om, yeti Karma Tashi Sherpa hip-hopping like Justin, Biru Maharjan breaking like MJ, Prem KC crooning melodiously like a cuckoo, boom boom by DJ Kalden Sherpa with sound system managed by Amrit Shakya. The event was made possible with volunteers who worked tirelessly behind the scene and with support from community friends and organizations. Some of the names which comes to picture are as follows:
Abi Sharma (Cafe Kathmandu), Amrit Shakya, Anil Pradhan, Biju Tamrakar (Blenz Coffee), Chandra Tumbahangphe, Dev Adhikari (Local Harvest Restaurant and Grill), Dr. Sanjivan Mahara, Hari Deuja, Sajana Shrestha, Sarad Sherchan (Mustang Driving School), Sarad Shrestha and Ratna Rai (NCSBC) for their special contribution. Kalden Sherpa, Prem KC, Amrit Shakya, Biru Maharjan, Suman Bimali, Anuj Singh, Biju Tamrakar, Nima Sherpa, Sarad Serchan, Junas Adhikary, Suresh Thapa, Ronash Bajracharya, Roshan Bimali, Micka Devkota, Lhundup Sherpa, Raju Bajracharya and Raj Shakya as volunteers. Suresh thapa, Ronash Bajracharya and Raj Shakya for Camera. Biru Maharjan for Stage Decoration. Prem KC for MC.
*************************************************************************************
In the pics, top to bottom: Om Singing, Lhundup laughing, Captains Collecting (Anuj & Suman), Laxman Loving it! Jamling Jiving, Marvelous Maya & Angi, Yetis Yelling (with joy), Biru Bending, Karma Kicking, Kalden booms Khatra, Lau Maryo Ni...Yetis Naching, Hot Junas & Biju fanning with $$$, Amrit Sounding Happy! Prem MCing & Geeting, AnishNirajPritam Guitaring&Geeeting.

Yeti kid lifts Dana Cup

By HasiKushi

Denmark, July 6-11. The Dana Cup, known as "the world's most international youth soccer tournament" is held every year in the city of Hjorring, Denmark. It is claimed that, this tournament has the largest number of participating countries in any internationanal soccer tournament. Over the last 25 years, half a million participant from over 100 countries have made it to Dana Cup. Oh, boy!
This boy −Yonden Sherpa− the sporting kid of yeti Kalden Sherpa, the evergreen Khiladi No.1 of HimSoc, has made the whole Yeti World proud to become, perhaps the first yeti kid to kick and win the prestigious Dana Cup of Denmark and play at the Gothia Cup, Sweden. Yonden represented the winning team Roman Tulis Soccer Academy of Canada to lift the U-13 Dana Cup 2009. Tulis beat Germany, 2-1 in the finals.
With a big smile, Yonden says, "My biggest moment was when I scored two goals in the semi-final, and secured the final spot. Eventually we beat Germany in the final. Besides my hard work, I'm lucky that my dad puts in a tireless effort. I also get great inspiration from my mom who was a national volleyball player in Nepal. Also my little sister Dechen, who always cheers for me. After the tournament, my dad and I traveled around Europe, I had an excellent time. I would like to thank all the friends and families in Europe for the great time we had."
Beside his international Dana debut, this year Yonden is selected Metro Vancouver League in which eight districts namely- Vancouver, Victoria, North and West Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, Delta and Abbotsford play inter-league. The proud dad yeti Kalden says,"He is doing good but he can do better." Oh, boy!

Yetis in Sephia

By Kancha Apa
Bhayankura. Mar. 26: Life in HimSoc is colorful like the prints of our Pahade Topi. HimSoc kicked-off their 2009 Season today in the colorful corners of Cafe` Kathmandu, located at, what they call - The Soccer Street of Vancouver. Take few moments to check out cool colorful yetis, for a change, in the shades of Sephia!
Click or cut & paste the link: http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa94/himsoc/CKNite2009/

The Legendary Yetis

By Gollylover

I sometimes wonder why the heck we Yetis – Himali Folks– are drawn to this round thing called golly_soccer? I grew up with this game of golly_football in Darjeeling and many of you did in your own cities and hometowns. Wherever we go, we find atleast one Yeti popular in kicking! I feel, some thanks must go to British Bajeharu who must have brought dozens of those leather ko gollys_footballs with them and played with our grandfathers -Yeti Bajes- while their sweetheart Bojus prepared some delicious DalBhaat, RaayokoSaag and Kukhra ko Masu at their Chimtemaato le lipeko Chula! That era was bereft of television and other attractive media like Internet. Thus with my telescopic imagination, I feel this game of golly_football must have physically bounced in our mountains, valleys and communities with those Gore Sahebs. As the ball of time rolled, there came an gradual sunset over the British Empire and poor British Bajes had to leave for good but the game of golly_football remained with our yetis of those times and even today, wherever we go, the game still kicks with Yetis with the same flavour as with our Baje Peles. Talking of Gorkhey Peles playing golly_soccer, some of our Baje Yetis earned a good name in this field of sport and inspired young yetis of their era and have become Legendary Yetis in their own right. But at the same time many of our Yeti Peles of yester years have sadly gone unsung.
Yetis of the 80`s in Darjeeling, Nepal, Dehradun and Sikkim grew with "Shyam-thapa-kick" , a back-volley kick which our Yeti Shyam Thapa from Dehradun was too famous for. Infact, the general public of Darjeeling and adjoining areas waited for Gold Cup to watch the likes of Shyam Thapa than to peek at FIFA`s World Cup`s pictures in Sportstar, glossy sport magazines. Gold Cup lived upto its glamour and used to be a prestigious annual football tournament held in Darjeeling for clubs from India and Nepal. Today very few know about Late Chandan Singh Rawat who was the first Gorkhey who represented Indian football team in the Helsinki Olympics of 1952.
As the ball of time rolls, the inspiration and love to play golly_football_soccer like the legendary yetis of yesteryears still continues and is passed on generation to generation. One name which will be inscribed forever is Bhaichung Bhutia, young Yeti from Sikkim who is the first Yeti to play in English Football League for Bury Football Club from 1999 to 2002. In the World Cup of 2002, he was one of the ESPN football analysts, sitting along with former heavy weight World Cup players from Europe for billions of viewers glued to TV in Asia! He battled the tough competition of the British soccer for couple of years and returned home to lead Indian National Football team as Captain. Under his able captaincy, India won the prestigious Nehru Cup for the first time in 2007. Another Yeti who is making the Gorkhey world proud today is Sunil Chhetri. Born in Darjeeling, this yeti started his professional football with some local club in Delhi. Soon with his loaded skills in ball control and bullet power shots, he moved on to play with prestigious clubs like Mohun Bagan and East Bengal in Kolkata. Recently, bro was in London to do some trial games to play in Englsih League.
Another yeti whose name is like Pele of Brazil, is, Ganesh Thapa of Nepal! He headed Nepal’s Football team to numerous international tournaments. He later played professional football in Bangladesh. Today he is the President of All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) and South Asian Football Federation. He continues to inspire yetis of all age towards this game and works hard for the development of sports in Nepal. These days he is seen presiding over various sports tournaments held in South Asian countries.
But there were other Yetis in our villages, cities and hometown who were local heroes for golly_soccer lovers and were highly skilled players. Unfortunaely, there names could not echo beyond the limited opportunities but it will be a fitting salute, if we remember their names by-heart and picture their faces in our thoughts and say, "Bro, because of You...I am a HimSoc Yeti today."
************************************************************
Pictures: (Top to bottom) Nakale-NepaliFan, Sundar-Shyam Thapa (with Pele), Classic-(Late) Chandan Singh, Bravo-Bhaichung Bhutia, Shinning-Sunil Chhetri, Glamorous-Ganesh Thapa.