PUNE: Amidst the hustle and bustle at the foothills of the Parvati temple lies a small eatery by the name of ‘Shreenath Tea & Snacks Centre’, run by a man who now possesses the coveted piece of silverware in Indian football – an I-League winner’s medal.

Minerva Punjab FC continued the underdog trend after Aizawl FC ’s fairytale last season by clinching the national football title and at the heart of it all was that man, Sachin Badadhe . Ever since he opened the tea-shop in 2009, Badadhe has been shuffling between providing patrons their daily cuppa to making sure his players are improving on the field.

“Despite my financial situation, I wasn’t too bothered about how big my pay packet was. I wanted to go out there and make a name for myself in Indian football,” he said. “I used to manage my coaching sessions in the evening along with running the shop. My wife used to run the shop whenever I wasn’t in.”

Born in a tiny village called Kumbharvalan near Saswad about 37 km from Pune, Badadhe went to SSPMS Boarding school and was part of their U-15 football team which won various inter-school titles and played at the Maharashtra state championship.

His stint in local club football though, was the one which shaped the 37-year-old’s coaching career. After spending a year at Phoenix FC , he spent a number of years at Sky Hawks under the tutelage of city football stalwart Vivek Nagul.

“I felt I had the required traits to become a coach during my time with Sky Hawks. I was a defender so I used to keep talking and guiding the players around me during a match. Whenever the coach wasn’t present, I used to take sessions,” said Badadhe.

But financial gains were hard to come by and about a year after opening the tea-shop, Badadhe, who has a son and a daughter, started feeling the weight of raising a young family. But his wife Rupali had other ideas.

“She (Rupali) told me whatever happens, you should never quit football. My responsibilities were increasing by the day. My daughter was about six years old then and my son, one. My wife’s words gave me some hope and I thought about it for the next couple of days. And then I decided to have another go,” he said.

The former defender started acquiring his coaching licences and had short stints as a youth coach with former I-League team Bharat FC and the Maharashtra U-17 team. He became an AFC ‘B’ licenced coach in 2016 and a year later, the call came from Minerva.

The position offered was initially that of U-18 head coach but after one impressive training session, Minerva owner Ranjit Bajaj promoted Badadhe to assistant coach of the senior team. The next few months that followed were the stuff of dreams for the Chandigarh-based team.

“Bajaj kept telling us that we would become champions but obviously, no one took those words that seriously at the beginning. We drew against Mohun Bagan in our first game and won the next four. Thirteen points from five games was a very good total. As the season progressed, we drew some inspiration from Aizawl. If they could do it with a small budget, why can’t we?” said Badadhe.

In the end, on a dramatic last match-day, after Minerva kept their nerve to eke out a 1-0 win over Churchill Brothers , the first thing Badadhe did was call home.

“My entire family was watching the match so they were already in tears when I called. After being involved in the sport for nearly two decades, I had finally tasted success. And I feel this is just the beginning.”

