Live India, Love Football

I did it!!! I successfully completed the NYC Marathon with a time of 4 hours and 24 minutes and raised over $3000 for Grassroot Soccer.  It was one of the most painful and most incredible experiences of my life.  When I look back, the whole journey from choosing to run the marathon to crossing the finish line was simply incredible. It started a year ago, a day after I completed the Delhi Half Marathon. I was so lit up by the experience that I wrote my friend Ethan Zohn and told him that I wanted to join the Grassroot Soccer NYC Marathon team for 2011. He said "Yes" and, at the time, I had no clue what was ahead of me. About 6 months before the marathon I decided to start preparing.  As my typical optimistic self, I was sure that I would train properly and be completely ready to go before the marathon. Boy was I wrong. I had a conference call with my good friend in Mexico, Jose 'Pepe' Galvan, who runs Ultra Marathons. He shared a training schedule with me and ...

I'm so happy to announce that on October 19th myself and my friends at Conscient Football hosted a press conference announcing FC Barcelona's entry into India through their FCBCamps. The press conference took place at a 5 start hotel in central Delhi and was attended by 60 members of the press. This partnership is the result of passion, commitment and hard work by individuals at Libero Sports, Conscient Football and FC Barcelona.  2 years ago when I met Rajesh Jain, Director Conscient Infrastructure, he communicated that he wants to create a grassroots football program in India that will attract the best clubs in the world. About a year later, we were well underway with the execution of Conscient Football and it was clear to us that the only club to partner with was FC Barcelona. At that point, I directed all of my energy and efforts into setting up meetings with the club, planning trips to Spain, doing research on other programs, writing propo...

While at MLS I was part of the team that created a program called Sueno MLS (MLS Dream) which was essentially a nationwide talent hunt intended to identify the best young Hispanic football players in the US. The agency that helped to create, execute and expand the program was called Primetime Group. My two main contacts at Primetime Group were Fernando Orvananos and Alma Angeles. They are both great friends of mine and excellent at what they do. Before I left the US for India, I was clear that I was going to bring the Sueno MLS talent hunt model to India and have Fernando and Alma come out to run the program as I knew that Indian football would only win with the combination of a professional grassroots football model and 2 very intelligent, committed people executing it. Fortunately, adidas India and FC Bayern Munich provided that opportunity. adidas India hired Libero Sports India to conceptualize and support the execution of the FC Bayern Youth Cup India which is a 2 city talent ...

I recently went back to Barcelona at the invitation of the Director of FCBEscola, Xevi Marce. Accompanying me were the owners of Conscient, Rajesh and Anu Jain. I had no idea what to expect, however Xevi had given me his word that he would spend 3 full days with us since he was committed to making an FC Barcelona project India work. His feeling was that the more we got to know each other and the more we understood FC Barcelona’s youth academy system, the better we could plan and execute FC Barcelona programs in India. I will spare the details and just say this: The 3 days I spent in Barcelona with Anu, Rajesh and Xevi were 3 of the best days I’ve had preparing for any project in my life. We spent 3 full days discussing values, watching FCBEscola in action, touring the new La Masia, spending time with FC Barcelona’s International team, eating incredible lunches and dinners and discussing the future of Indian football over fine wine and champagne. I got into football purely for the ...

The Indian state of Jharkhand has always been a mystery to me. All I know about it is what my driver, Samir, says about his days growing up in his Jharkhand village and the stories I read about Naxalites in Jharkhand hijacking trains, buses and government convoys. That being said, I was both excited and a bit nervous to find out that a few of my colleagues and I were scheduled to fly down to Jharkhand to meet Tata Football Academy (TFA), India’s most successful youth football academy, and then visit the village where my friend Franz Gastler runs his YUWA India NGO http://yuwa-india.org/ We flew into Jharkhand’s capitol, Ranchi, and my excitement began to overpower my nervousness. I love travelling domestically in India and love travelling to new places even more. However, y excitement quickly turned into fear as we hopped into a car on life support and then traversed the most dangerous 2 lane highway that I have ever been on. Just thinking about how many “near death” encounters we had...

I’m currently flying over Islamabad, Pakistan on a flight from New York to Delhi. The world has never felt smaller to me and life’s possibilities have never seemed as endless as they do right now. Just 8 weeks ago I was driving through central Delhi with my driver, Samir, bopping away to Bollywood tunes when I looked at my Blackberry and saw that FC Barcelona confirmed a meeting with me for July 5th in Spain. I was happy that I was able to get a meeting with one of the top clubs in the world; however I had no idea that this meeting would be the start of the most extraordinary month of my life. I knew 2 things back in June: #1. That I had a meeting with FC Barcelona on July 5th and #2: That I needed to be in New York by July 26th for meetings around the MLS All-Star Game. In my heart I knew that this was the best time for me to travel to Europe and the US meeting with football clubs and leagues to discuss various opportunities for them to enter the Indian football landscape. The tru...

I'm flying out from Delhi tonight and won't return until early August.  During the next month I'll be in Spain, England, Germany, California and New York meeting with some of the top football clubs in the world to discuss Indian business opportunities. For me this trip feels so right. After 2 years of rigorously studying the challenges and opportunities of football in India both on and off the field, I'm at a place where I'm comfortable sharing my knowledge with the rest of the football world.  More importantly, I'm ready to ideate on mutually beneficial ways to integrate some of the world's best clubs into the existing Indian football landscape. For me this is an opportunity of a lifetime: to travel the world representing Indian football and have the opportunity to cause a real transformation within this country. I'll report as much as I can throughout the trip, however there is a good chance that I'll post a full recap once I return. Oh an...

The other day I was interviewed on Sportsnet Radio Fan590 in Canada for a segment on India being an emerging sports market. I was in the middle of a big meeting when the call came in from the radio station (mental note: get better at working out the IST - EST time difference).  Fortunately, my colleagues understood and I was able to excuse myself to do the 40 minute interview. Unfortunately, it was about 105 degrees in Delhi and I had to do the interview from a room with no air conditioner. Needless to say, I received some interesting looks when I re-entered the meeting as it seemed as though I just went for a 40 minute dip in the Yamuna River. Anyway, the interview was a lot of fun and the host of the show seemed very informed on the subject. Also, I got a few points with my Canada based family members. Here is a link to the interview: http://www.fan590.com/ondemand/media.jsp?content=20110702_005639_6400  

My experience going on business trips within India has completly transformed. During the initial year and a half, I was still growing my name and credibility within the Indian sports Industry. It felt like most of my trips were to sell myself to the people I was meeting and then sell whatever property or service I was actually trying to sell. It was exhausting, but I knew it was just something that one has to go through when moving to a completely different place. But now things are exactly how I dreamed they would be, how it was in the US after many years at MLS building relationships and credibility. I go on business trips that feel more social than business and I now have access to key people, places and events. Recently I went to Pune to see the final of the Manchester United Premier Cup. The whole day was special. Flew in and had lunch with Kushal Das, General Secretary of that AIFF, Viswajeet Kadam, head of the AKFDC Academy and representatives of Nike India. From th...

A few months ago my client at Conscient Football and I were discussing options for an "Exposure Trip" we were planning for a group of Delhi based youth footballers.  The obvious locations came up; Manchester, London, Milan, Madrid, Munich, etc... But then Barcelona was mentioned and it was obvious that the meeting was over right then and there. There were no other options.  Barcelona is located in the country that just won the most recent FIFA World Cup, is home to the best football club in the world and home to the best football player in the world.  Why would we take the players anywhere else??? So fast forward to May 12th.  I'm at Indira Gandhi airport in Delhi with 3 other staff members meeting with 27 sets of parents and assuring them that their little princes will be fine.  I'm holding passports, collecting forms, smiling widely, shaking hands and doing my best to exude confidence and responsibility.  Somehow we get the 27 players thr...

My dream is simple; I dream that India qualifies for the FIFA World Cup.  This may seem superficial, but I know that in laying out the path to achieve this dream great sports programs will be created, quality infrastructure will be built, coaches will be developed and role models will be born.  Also, I know that the opening kick off of India's first FIFA World Cup match will be the strongest unifier this subcontinent has ever experienced; bigger than, I dare to say, the recent ICC Cricket World Cup Final. So here I am in India working on achieving this dream every day.  Through meetings, presentations, pick up matches, conference calls, roundtables, etc...  Dentsu India were the first to provide a platform for me to enter India. Through Dentsu India I learned about Indian business and sport and worked with some of the top advertisers in the country. I have now joined Libero Sports India.  This is a group solely focused on professionalizin...