CII Corporate Soccerfest - A tournament I will never forget
Preface: I haven't played in a competitive football tournament in awhile. The last time I can remember was the 15 minutes I got on the pitch 2 years ago when adidas India offered me a last minute invite to join their team in a Plaza Farms, Delhi amateur tournament. I remember scoring one goal and then spending the rest of the game kicking myself for losing my touch and being so out of shape. Since that forgettable experience I have been playing football 1-2 times a month at most, but nothing too serious or competitive. That said, since then I've been practicing yoga daily and have completed two (2) 1/2 marathons and one (1) full one.
About 5 months back, the Libero Sports India MD, Sukhvinder Singh, mentioned to me that the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was interested in promoting football through a corporate tournament in Delhi and they've asked Libero Sports to serve as Knowledge Partners. Although I was excited about the prospect of supporting corporate interest in football through this tournament I had no idea what kind of impact this tournament would have on my life.
Now fast forward 4.5 months and the tournament dates, venue and participating corporate teams have been confirmed with Libero Sports India getting the opportunity be 1 of the 24 competing teams. As India's first and only football consultancy, we had a perception to maintain which meant that we spent the next 2 weeks training as a team on the mini football pitch within our office bungalow. Although the training was fun, it exposed how much our football passion and expertise off the pitch didn’t necessarily carry over onto the pitch. We have some individual talents but as a collective unit it was obvious that we were all talk and no touch. To make matters worse, one of our better players severely injured his back during an early morning training which meant that we were down a player and, again, highlighted the fact that as a team we were out of shape.
On the first day of the tournament, our team showed up to Nehru stadium not knowing what to expect from ourselves and from the other teams participating. However as we walked into the concourse area, we forgot about our upcoming matches for a bit as we began to comment on the professional look and feel of the event. The signage, operations, field set-up and diversity of the participating teams added to our excitement and made us proud to be associated as Knowledge Partners for such an event.
After all the hellos, introductions and dressing ourselves in our bright orange kits, we transitioned back into game mode. We fruitlessly discussed strategy as we watched some of our friends play their first round matches. Then the call came for Libero Sports to line up on the pitch next to our opponents Ernst & Young. They looked young, fit and curiously not like people who worked for Ernst & Young. No one said anything, but I could tell we were all a bit nervous and intimidated.
The game was a battle from start to finish with the result being a 1-1 draw. In the end, we were disappointed that we didn’t win but pleased to know that we were, in fact, in better shape than we had originally thought. We had a 2 hour break to rest our tired legs before we hit the pitch again to play the host team CII. Given the results of other matches in our group, we had to beat CII by 3 goals to advance to the next round of the tournament. We were up to the challenge, but knew that it was no easy task.
From the opening kickoff, I knew the game was ours. You could actually feel the hunger and fight within each Libero team member which translated into a 10-1 win and the opportunity to play in the Champions Cup the next day. For me the game was a special one, as I scored 4 goals and started to remember what mental and physical actions I need to take to ensure I perform at my highest possible level.
The following day we lined up against a young and somewhat popular group of reporters who made up the NDTV team. We hadn’t seen them play but they looked young and fit which makes all the difference in amateur football tournaments. I wasn’t much worried about them as I could tell that we wanted to win more just from the way we were warming up. Our team was focused, stretching and getting as many touches on the ball as possible. NDTV was simply hanging out watching the other matches. The difference in preparation prior to the match showed in the result. We won 10-4 and I scored 6 goals.
We had a 3 hour break before the semifinals where we could relax our muscles, eat some lunch and relish in our past 2 victories. The other teams started talking about Libero Sports and I had leapfrogged from an unknown player to someone to watch out for. It was all somewhat surreal for all us.
Before we knew it, we were lined up on the pitch next to Genesis Luxury a team who had performed very well throughout the tournament. Although we all wanted to win, I felt that most of us representing Libero were already talking ourselves into feeling comfortable with losing the match and walking away with a semifinal finish. Fortunately, our destiny was to make it to the finals. Some new energy was flowing through my body and I started the game with 3 goals in about 5 minutes. We ended up playing as a fierce team, winning the match 10-4. I scored 5 goals.
We left the pitch with renewed energy, huge smiles and hundreds of new supporters. For the next few hours before our final match we felt like celebrities. People shaking our hands, giving us pats on the back, Facebook posts wishing us luck, etc… We were no longer thinking about the finals and the solid Barclays team we were soon to be up against, we were just swimming in a sea of acknowledgement and our own salty sweat.
After a professionally executed opening ceremony we hit the pitch. We had 6 fit players and Barclays had 12, however that didn’t seem to matter in the first 5 minutes. We started the match on a high and scored the opening goal. After that, it was all Barclays as they netted 10 goals while our supporters watched us run out of gas. Barclays outran and outclassed us and earned a well-deserved 10-1 victory.
We left the pitch with our heads held high. It may have been just an amateur corporate tournament but to us it ended up meaning much much more. It was our opportunity to come together as a team to show the Indian football and corporate community the type of fight, hunger, passion and professionalism the members of Libero Sports have within them. I know 100% that this was experienced by the other participants and spectators of the first ever CII Corporate Soccerfest. And for me, this tournament was gift from God. It reminded me of why I fell in love and committed my life to football in the first place and showed me that I still have what it takes to be a champion on the pitch.
As I love lists, here my 10 highlights from the CII Corporate Soccerfest (in no particular order)
1. Having the opportunity to play 5 football matches with my colleagues
2. Winning the Golden Boot Award for scoring 15 goals and having it present to me by Minister of Transportation and the MD of Coca-Cola India
3. Having the founders and children from Yuwa India, IYSA and Angels Academy all present during the finals to cheer us on and receive their INR 75000 in donations from CII
4. Donating our INR 20000 to Sylvestre Peter of Angel’s Academy
5. Meeting 2 coaches from Arsenal FC’s “Gapper” program who are currently living in Delhi and supporting Arup Das’ IYSA
6. Being a part of one of the most professionally run Corporate Tournaments I’ve ever experienced
7. Playing inside of the beautiful Nehru Stadium
8. Us losing in the final due to fitness, which means that my LSI colleagues can’t complain when I look to introduce them to some corporate fitness programs
9. Calling my parents after the tournament and letting them know that the boatload of money they put into my football training didn’t go to complete waste
10. Falling in love with the fun and power football over and over and over again throughout the weekend
About 5 months back, the Libero Sports India MD, Sukhvinder Singh, mentioned to me that the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was interested in promoting football through a corporate tournament in Delhi and they've asked Libero Sports to serve as Knowledge Partners. Although I was excited about the prospect of supporting corporate interest in football through this tournament I had no idea what kind of impact this tournament would have on my life.
Now fast forward 4.5 months and the tournament dates, venue and participating corporate teams have been confirmed with Libero Sports India getting the opportunity be 1 of the 24 competing teams. As India's first and only football consultancy, we had a perception to maintain which meant that we spent the next 2 weeks training as a team on the mini football pitch within our office bungalow. Although the training was fun, it exposed how much our football passion and expertise off the pitch didn’t necessarily carry over onto the pitch. We have some individual talents but as a collective unit it was obvious that we were all talk and no touch. To make matters worse, one of our better players severely injured his back during an early morning training which meant that we were down a player and, again, highlighted the fact that as a team we were out of shape.
On the first day of the tournament, our team showed up to Nehru stadium not knowing what to expect from ourselves and from the other teams participating. However as we walked into the concourse area, we forgot about our upcoming matches for a bit as we began to comment on the professional look and feel of the event. The signage, operations, field set-up and diversity of the participating teams added to our excitement and made us proud to be associated as Knowledge Partners for such an event.
After all the hellos, introductions and dressing ourselves in our bright orange kits, we transitioned back into game mode. We fruitlessly discussed strategy as we watched some of our friends play their first round matches. Then the call came for Libero Sports to line up on the pitch next to our opponents Ernst & Young. They looked young, fit and curiously not like people who worked for Ernst & Young. No one said anything, but I could tell we were all a bit nervous and intimidated.
The game was a battle from start to finish with the result being a 1-1 draw. In the end, we were disappointed that we didn’t win but pleased to know that we were, in fact, in better shape than we had originally thought. We had a 2 hour break to rest our tired legs before we hit the pitch again to play the host team CII. Given the results of other matches in our group, we had to beat CII by 3 goals to advance to the next round of the tournament. We were up to the challenge, but knew that it was no easy task.
From the opening kickoff, I knew the game was ours. You could actually feel the hunger and fight within each Libero team member which translated into a 10-1 win and the opportunity to play in the Champions Cup the next day. For me the game was a special one, as I scored 4 goals and started to remember what mental and physical actions I need to take to ensure I perform at my highest possible level.
The following day we lined up against a young and somewhat popular group of reporters who made up the NDTV team. We hadn’t seen them play but they looked young and fit which makes all the difference in amateur football tournaments. I wasn’t much worried about them as I could tell that we wanted to win more just from the way we were warming up. Our team was focused, stretching and getting as many touches on the ball as possible. NDTV was simply hanging out watching the other matches. The difference in preparation prior to the match showed in the result. We won 10-4 and I scored 6 goals.
We had a 3 hour break before the semifinals where we could relax our muscles, eat some lunch and relish in our past 2 victories. The other teams started talking about Libero Sports and I had leapfrogged from an unknown player to someone to watch out for. It was all somewhat surreal for all us.
Before we knew it, we were lined up on the pitch next to Genesis Luxury a team who had performed very well throughout the tournament. Although we all wanted to win, I felt that most of us representing Libero were already talking ourselves into feeling comfortable with losing the match and walking away with a semifinal finish. Fortunately, our destiny was to make it to the finals. Some new energy was flowing through my body and I started the game with 3 goals in about 5 minutes. We ended up playing as a fierce team, winning the match 10-4. I scored 5 goals.
We left the pitch with renewed energy, huge smiles and hundreds of new supporters. For the next few hours before our final match we felt like celebrities. People shaking our hands, giving us pats on the back, Facebook posts wishing us luck, etc… We were no longer thinking about the finals and the solid Barclays team we were soon to be up against, we were just swimming in a sea of acknowledgement and our own salty sweat.
After a professionally executed opening ceremony we hit the pitch. We had 6 fit players and Barclays had 12, however that didn’t seem to matter in the first 5 minutes. We started the match on a high and scored the opening goal. After that, it was all Barclays as they netted 10 goals while our supporters watched us run out of gas. Barclays outran and outclassed us and earned a well-deserved 10-1 victory.
We left the pitch with our heads held high. It may have been just an amateur corporate tournament but to us it ended up meaning much much more. It was our opportunity to come together as a team to show the Indian football and corporate community the type of fight, hunger, passion and professionalism the members of Libero Sports have within them. I know 100% that this was experienced by the other participants and spectators of the first ever CII Corporate Soccerfest. And for me, this tournament was gift from God. It reminded me of why I fell in love and committed my life to football in the first place and showed me that I still have what it takes to be a champion on the pitch.
As I love lists, here my 10 highlights from the CII Corporate Soccerfest (in no particular order)
1. Having the opportunity to play 5 football matches with my colleagues
2. Winning the Golden Boot Award for scoring 15 goals and having it present to me by Minister of Transportation and the MD of Coca-Cola India
3. Having the founders and children from Yuwa India, IYSA and Angels Academy all present during the finals to cheer us on and receive their INR 75000 in donations from CII
4. Donating our INR 20000 to Sylvestre Peter of Angel’s Academy
5. Meeting 2 coaches from Arsenal FC’s “Gapper” program who are currently living in Delhi and supporting Arup Das’ IYSA
6. Being a part of one of the most professionally run Corporate Tournaments I’ve ever experienced
7. Playing inside of the beautiful Nehru Stadium
8. Us losing in the final due to fitness, which means that my LSI colleagues can’t complain when I look to introduce them to some corporate fitness programs
9. Calling my parents after the tournament and letting them know that the boatload of money they put into my football training didn’t go to complete waste
10. Falling in love with the fun and power football over and over and over again throughout the weekend
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