Jaison Vales: making all the right moves.Inter-village football tournaments are literally the open air classroom of the Goan game from where aspiring professional footballers graduate into the big time. Dozens of promising footballers who have gone on to grace the colours of India’s biggest clubs, have cut their teeth on the hurly burly pitch of inter-village tournaments that are a perennial phenomenon in the touristy state. Chennaiyin FC midfielder Jaison Vales for one is indebted to the tradition of inter-village tournaments where he first made his mark during his teenaged days. The 26-year-old winger grew up in the village of Navelim in south Goa near the city of Margao and began playing football on the school ground simply because it afforded him an opportunity to pay on a “big field”.Vales recalled the romance of the inter-village tournaments which are held at least twice or thrice a year and draw huge crows during an exclusive conversation with indiansuperleague.com. “Everyone knows that they have one shot, as the format is a knockout one right from the beginning,” he remembered. “You can showcase your talent to all of Goa or at least to nearby villages in one game. These tournaments obviously attract the attention of top coaches and if they are impressed they may in turn draft you into the Goan league.”Vales himself was scouted by a Churchill Brothers talent spotter at these tournaments. At the Varca-based club he met his mentor, Karim Bencherifa, who gave him his I-League debut at the age of 17 and groomed him to be the player he is today. Vales has been a super success with the red machines and has won all major honours in the domestic game including the I-League twice, Federation Cup, Durand Cup and IFA Shield under various coaches. He has also travelled with the Varca-based club for their AFC Cup campaigns to Kuwait, Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia where he skippered the side. But he has not forgotten the debt he owes to the Moroccan gaffer. “It’s not like youngsters don’t get a chance these days, but Karim Sir is the one who believes in them the most. He is the one who gives them a chance at their earliest, just like in my case,” he acknowledged. Anthony Barbosa, who is now his colleague at Chennaiyin FC, was another beneficiary of Bencherifa’s policy at Salgaocar.Lastly, Vales also credits Bencherifa for playing him as right-winger instead of striker. “He told me that I would perform much better operating from the wing. I listened to him and here I am today, so I am grateful,” said Vales, who is an admirer of former international midfielder Steven Dias. Vales now ventures outside Goa for the first time to try his luck on the eastern front in the Hero Indian Super League. Going by his earlier track record, this could be another successful move!