Getting To Know Where I Stand Outside My Bubble

As I began to think of football as a career, side by side i knew that to achieve that goal I had to step out of my school and compete in the outside world. I had risen among the ranks of the football society in my area. I was recognized as an upcoming talent by my seniors. They told me to never stop playing. I have and always will adhere to that advice.

I used to score tons of goals everyday. I must admit it was a lot of fun. I started gaining the respect of my fellow players.However, i realized that this football dream of mine was heading nowhere. I had to burst this huge bubble of mine -wherein i was the best and the king of the field. I researched on how to develop as a footballer. I found many articles but I was too young to understand the importance of practicing by yourself.

 My mother used to work in an NGO called Akanksha. She had a colleague named Glen. He was in the sports  department of Akanksha. He had found out that selections for the Maharashtra state team for a cultural tournament were taking place in Cooperage. My mother called me up, informed me and told me to kit up. I reached Cooperage very late. I ran to the the chief selector, " very early you are " he said. I was embarrassed and just apologized. He gave me a bib and  asked for my position. Those days, i hadn't decided on a fixed position as i was versatile. I could play on the wings, in the center of the park or as a striker. He decided to play me on the wings. I received the ball, saw a player open and tried a Hollywood pass. Hollywood passes are long balls which are a lot like those dreamy, movie kinds, slow motion passes with pin point accuracy. Lucky me, it reached my designated target! Another instance was when i received the ball, I ran down the sideline dribbling every player in my way and provided an assist to a well converted goal. Later on the results for the first day were declared. I had cleared the first round!

Next day i was super confident due to my performance the day before. But i was at a disadvantage as all the players over there knew each other and the coaches. They didn't like me. You could tell by the nasty glares they were giving me. I knew that i had to get selected purely on merit. I was put in a team with unknown players. All the players kept talking about a player named Anas. He was in my team and i finally got the chance to see him play. He was not fit but still, really good. He had seen me playing yesterday and had told me that i was already selected. And i was a fool to believe him. I didn't play up to mark and wasn't selected. I was chosen for a last round of trials along with 11 others. I played in the center this time and could not put my mark on proceedings. I realized that I was weak and couldn't match up to the others in terms of strength and stamina.

Thus i found my weak points in strength and stamina. I worked really hard to build those two aspects of my game. I found out where i stood in the outside world and a valuable lesson that until it comes out in black and white, never believe anything anyone says. I had burst my safe bubble and had leapt into wilderness.

And my journey continued...................

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................