Live India, Love Football

Our team at Libero Sports India is unique. We all come from different backgrounds, yet are united by the fact that we want to pioneer and shape the Indian football industry. That mission has allowed us to develop a strong friendship and brotherhood with each other over the past year. The Indian office of the company hit the 1 year mark a month back and we decided to throw an Anniversary/Holiday party at the massive bungalow which we work out of. At first we were just going to invite our families because they are the ones who have supported each of us with our choice to work in a non-traditional job and we wanted to use the party to thank them. But then we realized that these jobs would not be available if people within the corporate and football world didn’t pay for our services. So we expanded to invite our clients. But then we realized that we should also be thanking all the people who have been involved with the sport in India because without them we would not exist. Needless to...

The other day I was just about to leave for a quick trip to Bangalore when my colleague, Randeep, stopped me to ask a favor. He said that one of the players he represents, Malem Metei, currently plays for Bangalore based I-League club, H.A.L, and that he would appreciate it if I could meet with him while I was down there. My schedule was pretty packed with meetings, but I told him that I would take his number and try my best to meet him. After my first 2 meetings, I called Malem and invited him out to dinner thinking I was doing Randeep a nice favor. Boy was I wrong. It was actually Randeep who was doing me a huge favor. I never thought about it, but since moving to India I haven’t spent much time at all with I-League players. I don’t know most of their names, what challenges they have overcome to get to where they currently are, what their experience is playing professional football in India and what their dreams are. At MLS, I got to know many players during player appearances an...

I don’t know how many times I can say  or write this, but it’s so hard for me to hold in. Moving to India was the best choice I have ever made. Not just moving to India, but moving to India exactly when I chose to move to India. I arrived a little over 2 years ago with dreams to support the growth of football in this country, especially at the grassroots level. I had no idea exactly how I was going to do it or who I was going to do it with, but I was clear that this would be my commitment to myself and this country over the next few years. Fortunately, 2 things happened that has helped me begin to realize dream after dream after dream: 1. I’ve met a few incredible, genuine and passionate people 2. The pressure to make football in India work has reached emergency levels both domestically and internationally The above has made my adventure here so much more productive and fun and I truly feel blessed to have the opportunities that I have. Any follower of this blog would know...

Something incredible happened in December which I’m only sharing now. It was one of the most special series of moments in my life and no, it has nothing to do with football, nothing. So when I decided to move to India and people would ask me, “Why?” I would have 3 reasons for them: 1. To support the growth of soccer in India 2. To experience Indian culture firsthand 3. To have my parents spend more time in their country of birth During my previous visits, I was blown away with the positive impact that I received by visiting the villages my Mom & Dad used to live in, meeting their old friends from their respective villages and just being around communities who are more interested in togetherness  than upward mobility. I was clear that if both my Mom & Dad visited India together again after 31 years of being away, it would be a magical experience for all involved. My intuition was accurate. My parents returned to India towards the end of November and stayed here for...

The South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Cup took place in Delhi in December. Personally, I was looking forward to the tournament because the it gave me an opportunity to watch countries like Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, etc… play live which I’ve never experienced before. Professionally, I was excited because the tournament was set to take place in the beautiful Nehru Stadium and I was interested in evaluating things like game day experience, fan development, marketing and operations. I went to 3 matches: India v. Afghanistan (group match), India v Maldives (semifinal) and India v Afghanistan (final). The crowds were smaller than expected, the game day operations mediocre and product poor, however I was inspired by the tournament; not because Sunil Chhetri, a player whom I know fairly well, won every possible tournament award available. I was inspired because the SAFF Cup gave me a small peak into the future of football in India. It was a wonderful moment...

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...