American dream

Published>Sun, Apr 18 10 05:10 AM

Pro Bowl on television inspired Namdev Shirgaonkar to 'establish' yet another sport, his fourth, in the country

It was at around five in the morning on February 13, 2006 when Namdev Shirgaonkar had a proverbial epiphany. Not in the recess of his dreams, but with his eyes wide open, glued to the television set at his home in Navi Mumbai, watching the Pro Bowl on ESPN.

Having worked as a sports administrator with football-7-a-side, soft tennis and indoor cricket, he realised, even as the NFC team beat the AFC side 23-17 halfway across the globe in Hawaii, that American football was his calling.

Determined to bring the sport to the country, he dug up more information about the sport and contacted International Federation of American Football (IFAF). But there was a hitch ? he wasn't the only one following the game on television, others, too, had had their respective moments of truth and the world body had received at least 10 more expressions of interest from India alone "to develop the game". What would have been a hurdle for others, Namdev turned in his favour.

"The IFAF told us that we needed to have state associations and show some activity. I got in touch with those who had shown interest. We formed the body and got a provisional membership," says Shirgaonkar, the founder general secretary of the Indian association, speaking to The Sunday Express.

Having set the ball rolling, the next step was to organise events, and that didn't take them long. Within one year of its inception, the American Football Federation of India (AFFI) arranged close to 300 athletes ? mostly soccer and rugby players ? and hosted the first national championships in Pune. It didn't matter that there was no equipment, they played a variant of the game, touch football, where you don't need any.

"The IFAF was impressed with out efforts and India got a full membership in 2008. It was a huge achievement for us. But bigger tests lie ahead. The next step is to move from touch football to tackle football, but we will need equipment for that," he says.

While most associations rely on the government for funds, AFFI, while looking for recognition, doesn't seem too keen to depend on it. "We want to go cricket's way. This game has brought professionalism in India, I want to follow that model. With regard to funds, earlier National Football League, one of the richest sports bodies in the world, used to give funds directly to various countries, now they route it through the IFAF. Now that we are a full member, we hope we won't face a cash crunch," says Shirgaonkar, jet-lagged, having returned from Australia early in the morning after attending the sports Annual General Meeting. In his capacity as the Indian body's general secretary and development co-ordinator for South Asia, the 31-year-old has travelled places ? from Sweden to America and now Down Under.

It's a demanding job in itself, and he is also associated with the Maharashtra state units of soft tennis and football-7-a-side and is also the India vice-president of the indoor cricket association. And he has also showed interest in beach cricket. Is Shirgaonkar not wearing too many hats? "I am with those bodies in nominal positions. Right now, I am only focusing on American Football. It has got a great future," he says. "After all, America ka craze hai."

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