Q&A session with Ryan Roy Shah, Founder and Head Coach of Mega Pro Football Academy

Ryan has a slew of domestic and international coaching certifications and is now training future professionals out of his academy in Pune.

Note: This article was originally published on 29th January, 2020.

Growing up, which team did you support? Who is your favourite coach?

I have been a massive Manchester United fan since 2003. I have admired a lot of coaches for their different coaching styles but have always been a big fan of Sir Alex Ferguson for his attacking style of play, giving youth a chance and longevity. My favourite Indian coach is Bimal Ghosh, whose philosophies are similar to Sir Alex’s and I’ve been fortunate to play under him.

How did you get into football? When did you decide to become a professional coach? 

As a kid, I used to play cricket and at the age of 10, I was introduced to football in school. Since then, I always dreamed of becoming a professional footballer like a lot of other children. I ended up playing as a youth team player for Air India, Kenkre, Mumbai United and Mumbai Tigers and was at Brooke House College Football Academy for a while. At the age of 18, I decided to take a break from football and was exploring career options. That is when my parents kept persisting that I follow my passion and encouraged me to do my FA Level 1 license. Since then I kept attaining various qualifications, worked for schools, academies, universities and an NGO and finally ended up running my own academy.

 What are some of the coaching qualifications that you hold?

I have an FA Level 2 from the English FA, FAW UEFA C, Scottish FA C and am gradually doing AFC licenses in football. Apart from that, I have my Goalkeeping Level 1 from the FA and Scottish FA, Futsal Level 1 from the FA, PFSA Scouting Level 3, first aid and safeguarding qualifications and have also completed a lot of online courses. Additionally, I am doing a Diploma in Personal Training from K11 Academy of Fitness Sciences.

Tell us more about your football academy. What does a day in the life of a Head Coach at Mega Pro Football Academy look like?

Having gained experience working in youth football in every sector, I felt that I could make a bigger difference in improving players by starting my own academy, with complete freedom and that is when Mega Pro came into existence. With the support of my two coaches Archis Bhagwat and Siddharth Shukla and young trainee coach Rohit Sirvee, we train boys and girls aged 4 to 17 with a big focus on technique training. Our sessions last for an hour in which we try to keep them as intense as we can and ensure players have a ball at their feet in most activities (one ball per player), we encourage them to take risks and try to get them to play as many tournaments as they can. 

Do you follow a specific footballing philosophy in your coaching style? Which coach’s style would you like to emulate in your game?

I do not like to restrict myself by sticking to a particular philosophy because grassroots and academy football in India involves kids coming with varying abilities and dubious attendance. Hence, we gauge the average level of the group and then design training sessions to suit specific techniques on a monthly basis. I like to customize the coaching style instead of emulating existing styles. 

What’s your take on the professional football scene in India?

It is saddening to see that footballers and coaches in India need to go through so much insecurity in terms of salaries, on-time payments, contact durations, etc. It would be great if one day the AIFF and FSDL can relax the rules set on ISL teams with regards to franchisee fees and other laws, and instead set up one league of 20 teams and like the league systems in most top European countries, have a 20 team second division and if possible, a third division. Additionally, they should make it a point to organize the Federation Cup, Durand Cup, Super Cup, IFA Shield and reintroduce the Rovers Cup and keep these games in between the season. This way, there will be 40 teams in the country playing nearly a year-long league, meaning potentially 1,000 footballers will be on yearly contracts and with all these games, not just the main team but nearly all 25 will get game time. Also, preference should be given to Kolkata league teams and other teams that have the budget to run squads on an annual basis, to get direct entry into the top division. Additionally, we should allow public sector teams like Air India, ONGC, HAL to come back into the professional circuit, given the fact that their government affiliation guarantees they will never be short of funds to maintain their respective squads. I really hope such a plan can be executed, for the welfare of everyone connected to Indian football.

What has been the most memorable game you’ve managed and the most memorable you’ve watched so far?

There have been many instances where my academy teams have scored last minute goals, come back from a 1/2-0 trail to win, played with a man down, and of individual brilliance too. It would be very hard for me to pick one particular game. Among the ones I’ve watched, definitely United vs Chelsea in Moscow.

What’s the best thing about being a professional coach?

Imagine getting paid to do something that you would be ready to do for free. That should be the best thing in itself along with the fact that I look forward to going to work every day and can call a football field my office.

What has been the toughest challenge in your professional life?

Nothing comes easy. Challenges are constant and I enjoy overcoming them. A few challenges would be the lack of funds to do my best for my players and unnecessary parental interference. The biggest challenge I face is my youth teams playing against other youth teams with older players who rig the system by creating fake Aadhar Cards and other birth verification documents. Due to this, a lot of footballers either give up on the sport or are never spotted by pro teams. I hope the government can come up with an alternate form of age verification so that people cannot fool the system, one in which defaulters should be met with strict punishments.

What is your long term plan in the coaching space? Do you plan on staying in India and managing your academy for the long haul?

I have been privileged to have offers from Minerva Punjab, East Bengal and a few others in India as well as Juventus Academy Bahrain, an academy in Kuwait, a school in China and an NGO in Uganda but for now, I do not want to move anywhere in the near future because I need to grow the academy and I want to ensure that players from my oldest U17 age group secure their futures. I am also getting married on the 7th of February and hence need to keep that in mind when considering offers.

Having been exposed to European football and its high standards, do you think football in Asia has the potential to be elevated to the same level? If so, how? 

I cannot comment on Asia as a whole because I do not have enough inside knowledge about it and because there is a big gap in the level of infrastructure between many countries. In India though, many people talk about infrastructure and we are taking steps forward in this area with more pitches, astroturfs, qualified coaches, more youth tournaments, etc. but, what we now need to focus on is getting players to start playing football at an early age. In Europe, North and South America, players are introduced to football at age 4 or 5, but, in India, players usually start at 10. That is why our junior national teams sometimes get players whose basic techniques need to be worked on.

Finally, what would you advise other aspiring football coaches on the come up?

Get qualified, never stop learning, never get complacent and most importantly, never cheat or be lazy in your job because a career in sports is a privilege that not everybody has.