There was a small tea stall near Parwati temple 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.
Born in a small 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. He played for Phoenix FC and Sky Hawks FC under current ARA FC coach Vivek Nagul. He was playing as a defender for them. He was always guiding the team during the matches as a defender and he took training sessions when coach wasn’t there.
But due to financial problems, Sachin Badadhe started a Tea shop. Sachin Badadhe has 1 daughter and 1 son. Day by day his responsibilities were increasing. But his wife always motivated him and gave him the backing up which everyone needs.
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.
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. His entire family was watching the match so they were already in tears when he called. After being involved in the sport for nearly two decade he had finally tasted success and he feels this is just the beginning.
After Khogan singh left, Sachin Badadhe became head coach of Minerva Punjab. He is with the team which will now participate in AFC Cup.
Such an inspirational story in every aspect!!