By Shouab Mehmood

What a rollercoaster of a season the Wanderers are having, the only difference is that this rollercoaster is just descending and currently shows no signs of climbing up!

Any who I suppose it’s about time we spoke a bit about Asian football…

Some will argue that it’s the typical ‘kick the ball in the air and just hope that someone is on the end of it to crack it past the opposition keeper’. However by far the quality of football being played in both leagues shows how much progression teams have made.

Getting hold of quality Asian talent is quite hard to come by these days, as the top teams just some how seem to snub these players! But one of the main credentials of a team playing in this league is nurturing the talent from a young age, by this I mean maintaining the exposure to games as well as guidance from fellow players and management is essential.

The Asian league has certainly benefited vastly by allowing teams to have 5 non-Asian players on the field of play. This firstly allows a greater insight in to different cultures and beliefs which is imposed internally and externally. Secondly, the quality of football just seems to get better. This isn’t to say that the non Asians do all the hard work!!! It’s just that a greater understanding of the game is brought to the team as these players tend to have more exposure to the game.

An example of this can be seen through the two Wanderers, Daniel and Asif as shown above, are two of the youngest stars at Walthamstow, both aged 20. Daniel is currently the highest goal scorer for the Wanderers and is in the top ten for the league. Asif would argue that he has set Daniel up for every one of his goal, not to sure about that!! Asif has put in some key performances this season so far and has to continue to do so. (That goes for all of you by the way).

The Asian league has come far since it was first established in the 1990’s; the league has secured an excellent sponsorship from Mercedez Benz Direct, as well as starting a under 13 league. It just goes to show, as players from other league set ups admire the sponsorship logo on the club jersey and ask, ‘Hello mate, which league do you play for?’ The response is quite fascinating as the questioner hasn’t realised the potential of Asian Talent.

Non Asian players in the current Walthamstow Wanderers team all have played in other leagues. However they too realise that the potential of this team and league can lead to further progression in a foot-balling sense as time goes on.

The Asian league has done well by introducing leagues for various age groups, this is beneficial as this creates more awareness amongst people and can create more of an opportunity to see Asians playing in England’s top flight of football. Just think about…an Asian Robbie Keane or how about an Asian Henry?

The Football Association of England has done terrific over the past years encouraging youngsters to take more part in the beautiful game. More and more youngsters getting involved in the sport will hopefully be beneficial for the society as youngsters would have more of a sense of direction in life. Would you rather have your child playing football hoping to make it to the top flight one day? Or rather hear or see your little one is involved with smoking or even drugs?

We as a club are not telling you how to raise your child in anyway shape or form. We as club want to involve as many young Asians and Non Asians playing the game as this is not just beneficial for them but for society and country as it bring the nation together when watching England compete in the major competition.

Moving forward I think the FA can get more involved with the Asian community in particular. Perhaps by visiting communities were Asians are seen as a majority. By doing this, they can create an awareness amongst Asian parents who don’t tend to support their child playing football. If this step were to be taken we can be sure to see a healthy community, as heart and other respiratory problems are quite common amongst the community due to lack of exercise and activity.

There are many Asian youngsters out there who have a lot of talent, but the problem currently is that these potential players do not have much of an idea on what is expected from them to make the grade. Asian parents are not aware of the benefits and “career” opportunities in Football, and due to this they usually are not supportive to their children. As a result, from a young age, Asian youngsters do not know where to go to start as a footballer, as well as finding out what is required to make the grade as a professional.

There are many “non-Asian” clubs out there that do not take notice of Asian players as much, and there are reasons for this. It’s not because they are racist, it is because of a lack of understanding. Most clubs look for two attributes in players when they select them for a top-flight team at an early age (8-11 years old). 1: Player attributes and 2: Social attributes.

Now, let’s look at these. In terms of player attributes, there is no doubt that there are Asian players who have plenty of this. But when a young player lacks one of these attributes at an early age, a parent, guardian, or an older family friend usually provides the young child advice on how they can work on this, and help them achieve this. The problem is that with most Asian kids, they do not have that support, and hence have to work on those by themselves. We all know that this is very difficult for young children.

Let’s look at the second one – social attributes. It’s natural that Asian kids can be different culturally from non-Asians. We also know that not many young children have their parents to support them during games and training, and don’t have a relationship with their children’s coach. This isn’t the fault of Asian children, but due to a bit of ignorance by coaches, if the kids are different, they will be treated differently. Also, a lot of the young “non-Asian” children have parents that speak to the coach for feedback, and build a relationship which can help the child move forward in terms of ability.

How can we work to improve this situation? Well, the FA could work more closely with Asian clubs to help build a structure within clubs that could produce quality young Asian players, as well as help Asian club coach’s to build the experience required to develop these young starlets. These Asian coaches as a result can also communicate with the children’s parents on the benefits of football (There is no doubt that Asian coaches will be able to better communicate with Asian parents – this isn’t a racial thing, just a fact of life). Some of these has already happened, but more involvement, maybe by use of workshops are required to build on this. The FA has an agenda to develop Asian footballers, but one way this can be achieved is by holding forums with Asian club managers – the people who have day to day contact with the players. Another idea is to have top quality coaches coming to training sessions once in a while to assist in player development.

All in all, a lot has been done to find more Asian superstars, but, there is still a lot of work to be done.

On a final note, Walthamstow Wanderers would like to dearly thank its Players for there commitment towards the club during this tough time, and we hope you are with us for many years to come.