My first step into the world of football.

It was the year 2010. I was in 7th standard. My class had their games period. I always had this dream of entering the inter school football scene. That for me was my ultimate goal, to get into my school football team.

I was in NCS (Navy Children School). I was just chatting with my friends and getting ready to play when our school physical training sir, Mr.Paresh walked up to us and told us that he was taking trials for the school team. Wearing school uniforms, black leather shoes and a tight belt, wonder how we played! Guess it was the adrenaline rush that helped. I must say, my class itself had  some amazing players. There was this guy called Himanshu. My my, he was the best at that time. His game was amazing. He could create chances out of nowhere, his passes were the most accurate, his shoots were good too and he was fast, really, really fast. It was mesmerizing to watch him play. And then there was me, a little kid . Compared to his my game was just, decent.

We began play. I had Himanshu in my team. Lucky me!!  I thought passing the ball around would get me in. So i did just that. As soon as I got the ball I would rotate the ball. In between the game Shrihari and Himanshu were called by Sir and their names were noted down. I found my chances dwindling as sir didn't call any more names. I have always had good shots. We received a corner and i decided to take it.  Sir was sitting under a tree which was just 5 feet away from the corner flag. I looked at him once, he gave this blank stare and then grinned. I took my run up and whacked that ball with all my might and it flew. No one could get a head to it and no one was expected to after all who was so gutsy at that time to head a ball ?! Paresh Sir just asked me for my name and like a cadet in NDA i did a perfect about turn and introduced myself. "Ankit Nagar. Class 7-B. Date Of Birth 07/09/19 " but i was cut short by him and was told to answer the question and stick to the question, always. Lesson learnt!! I was selected. I was the happiest person on the planet. I went home and jumped. My mom and Dad celebrated with me

 Practice started in two days. First day of practice, the coach was a pretty familiar face. I later realized he had coached me earlier. For some odd reason i felt he had a soft corner for me. I was made captain of the U-12 side. I went crazy. Next thing i know i was picking players, and to be honest i didn't know anyone. Who were these Navy Nagar chaps? I didn't know anyone at all so i picked Himanshu and asked him to pick the rest of the side for me. I got to know people like Shubham and Sharad who went on to be really good friends of mine.

We played and no one was listening to me. I was angry. At that age i used to start crying if i was upset. And that's what i did. Someone came and told me to stop. I looked up and saw this uncle in whites. Sudip Gangopadhyay was his name. He was instrumental  in me developing as a footballer and also as a person. I listened to him and went on to draw the game. He told me that I had to be stronger mentally and physically.And that was that, I was hell bent on improving.

 I was 12 that year and was selected to play in Arsenal Cup U-15. I was a substitute and rightfully so, I was playing with seniors who were really good. Sitting on the bench and looking at the others show their skills was an eye opener. I realized winning matches and scoring goals on the street with my batch mates meant nothing. We lost in the pre quarters. I got to play the second half of two games. I think i passed the ball twice. I had the number 8 jersey which was my favorite reason, my hero Steven Gerrard.

Arsenal Cup U-15 Number 8 jersey.

 I also played the Mahindra Youth Football Challenge the same year in the U-14 category. I was again on the bench. The team had the Kumar brothers. It's an honor to play alongside them, even today. Praful and Pranjal, both strong, fit, masters of the passes and shoots. It was a 60 minute game. I was brought on in the tenth minute. I got on and played on the right wing. As soon as i got the ball, i ran for my life with it  towards the goal. A player came in front, i nutmeged him and went straight. Another instance was when this player fouled me, took the ball and ran. I got up and sprinted behind him and slid. i got the ball but the player flew a few yards. I got up, went to the player, gave him a piece of my mind and walked of. Gango sir applauded.We lost in penalties.

Mahindra Youth Football Challenge U-14.

That kick started my love for the game. I did not study even a bit.Football took priority over my studies. I did improve but i knew there was a whole world of amazing footballers out there who were a thousand times better than me.

My journey had just begun................