Anton Blackwood

Arsenal

Tottenham Hotspur

International Spurs Football

football

Under-17 Women’s World Cup

Tata AIA Bachhpan Ka Rakshakaran

: 28-year old’s career as a footballer has been short-lived. He started his career withand in 2009 joined. Currently, Blackwood is theDevelopment Coach. Blackwood was in Mumbai yesterday for adevelopment project and talked about development of Indian football, its future and upcomingIt is great to be here and this actually is my first visit to India. Energy levels of both the players and coaches over here have been through the roof. It has been a powerful initiative to give the young players an opportunity of lifetime. It is such an experience which money cannot buy. It is empowering the young girls.It is difficult for me to comment on Indian football as a whole, because I have not been here for long. But if I go by what I saw today, definitely passion is here for football. I know the sport that dominates here is cricket but it would be great if football can grow here, because, it helps in building team spirit and developing leadership skills. So, first of all, I would encourage the young people in India and the elder ones to continue to play football, because it is a good way of becoming healthy.India needs more initiatives like this, which work in grassroots level. I have been to various countries in Asia for football development and I often get asked about the best way to send a nation to World Cup. I always say, you need to start from the basic ground and allow the young players to develop. If a player comes at the age of eight then you need to understand that it might take a 15-year process for them to fulfil and reach their potential. So, you have to be patient. The local coaches in Mumbai said exactly the same thing. You need to be patient with these young players and if you can continue to do that then, in the right time football will flourish and you might see India qualifying for a World Cup.I have no regrets, I have learnt a lot. At a young age I had to make big decisions. I believe the decision to join Tottenham was for me life-changing, not only as a player. They gave me a fantastic opportunity later by having me as a student, when I could not continue due to my injuries. Now I am full-time employee. So if I could go back, I guess, I would not have changed anything, though I should have listened more to sports science. I had a great opportunity to become a footballer but now I am able to travel and impact a lot of people. In Asia I have engaged with 60,000-odd people till now. I am young as a person and as a coach as well and there is a long way to go for me in realising my eventual dream.This will indeed give India a real support behind the team. This World Cup could easily be the foundation of football’s growth in India. I would like to encourage the whole nation to get behind the team.The basic is hard work with desire and dedication. If you want to be a footballer then it has to be your life. Even if you are a footballer you should enjoy your life and do other stuffs. But as you will get older you will have to take the right decisions, you will have to focus on football and maintain a disciplined lifestyle. If they can do that then there is no reason why they cannot achieve their dreams and I would tell young people in India to follow their dreams and not to be afraid of pushing and striving.