Live India, Love Football

It’s 9:45am on a foggy and seasonably cold Delhi winter morning January 2012.  I arrive at the British School excited to experience the first FCBarcelona India training camp, a partnership and program I had diligently and passionately worked on for over a year.  After an emotionally charged opening ceremonies, the rest of the program is on auto drive flawlessly managed by 3 FCBarcelona coaches who have traveled to India from Spain to oversee the technical aspects of the camp. I spend the days aimlessly wandering around the small-sided pitches enjoying the sights and sounds of quality football education being imparted on Indian youth while, at the same time, pride-fully patting my own back for my role in helping to take the partnership with FCBarcelona from concept to reality. During the final day of the camp I hear about a 6 year old boy who seems to be impressing all the coaches with his speed, ball control and overall awareness of the game.  Curious, I walk ove...

Spiritual guru and life coach Ferris Bueller once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Such a cliché, but so true if you actually live this advice. The past few months have been an emotional roller coaster for me.  As I entered my 4 th year in India my mind started working on overdrive which is not always a good thing . I experienced many distracted days and sleepless nights riddled in thoughts about money, materials and power. These poisonous ponderings sprouted from on overwhelming feeling of self-pity as I spent much of the Delhi winter in the massive homes of my American diplomat friends hearing about their American dollar salaries and multiple trips back to the US to visit family.  It was then that I became so caught up in what I don’t have that I forgot to truly appreciate and show gratitude for the extraordinary things I do have.  Fortunately, existence doesn’t allow me to whittle away in se...

I was given the opportunity to deliver the keynote address and moderate a panel discussion at the Economic Times Future of Learning Conference hosted at the Plaza Hotel in Vasant Kunj. The topic was entitled, “Education through Sport,” was one which I’m extremely passionate about given the fact that education and sport have been constant themes in my life since I was 4 years of age. I put together a panel of friends who also happen to be influencers in the education through sport industry: Yannick Colaco (Managing Director – NBA India), Saumil Majmudar (Founder, Edusports), MA Ashit (Head of Sports, The Heritage School) and Sujit Panigrahi (Founder, Fitness365). The room was full of administers, teachers, principals and others representing the industry and I was not quite sure how receptive they would be to the “sports” conversation however I was excited to have the opportunity to share my story and moderate a discussion with other experts in the field. The 1.5 hour session w...

Along with the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and the All India Football Federation (AIFF), we hosted the second edition of FICCI Goal last week in Delhi.  FICCI Goal is the largest conference hosted in the country specifically discussing the business of Indian football. I was pleased with how the event turned out as we had the right mix of Indian football property owners, top AIFF administrative and technical staff and foreign delegates to ensure quality conversation. Not surprisingly, the topic of most interest to everyone was India's preparation for the U-17 FIFA World Cup which will be hosted in India in 2017.  Rob Baan (AIFF Technical Director), Wim Koovermans (Indian National Team Head Coach) and Baichung Bhutia (Former Indian National Team Captain) answered all the delegates questions during a rousing 1.5 hour panel discussion.  I moderated a session dear to my heart entitled, "Academies & Soccer Schools - Benefits, Cha...

I’ve been spending a whole lot of time in Goa lately unfortunately not on the beach but crouched over my laptop in hotel conference rooms and offices. That said, I do have one highlight from one of my recent Goa trips which is worth sharing as I’m sure the 10 followers of this blog have no interest in hearing about all of the different types of sea creatures I consumed in between marathon sessions working on business plans. This highlight was attending Salgaocar FC’s community coaching program.  Over the past few years of living in India I’ve visited most I-League clubs and although I’ve been impressed with the passion, commitment and resilience exhibited by many of the club’s key management, I haven’t been too overly impressed with their quality of community outreach programming especially when clubs are spending $2 - $3 million a year on player salaries. That being said, I can confidently say that Salgaocar FC stands apart in this area. I experienced something special t...

We hosted another party at the Libero House. This time it was to celebrate our 3 year anniversary and another year of being India's leading football consultancy. Many friends from the industry made appearances with highlights being Indian National Team striker Robin Singh and his family and Indian National Team Captain Sunil Chhetri's family.  Robin's Father made a touching speech about how we have cared for his son like family for 3 years helping him go from an Academy player to starting forward for India.  These are special moments and I'm glad that we often take time out of our hectic schedules to celebrate the past and dream about the future, it surely does make a difference.  Looking forward to 3 more years of fun and growth.... Here are some pictures from the party:

Just got back from Rajasthan and felt like posting these pictures...