The team locked down!

Not everyday we get the chances but when I decided to write, it must start with this one. I am extremely proud the way our team, both boys and girls, have responded to this unexpected frustrating break. Pandemic, lockdown are something that we never expected, we never discussed about it and so this break of almost 4 months of no football is something we were not prepared for, at all. However, the best part of this group is, whenever we face something new, good or bad, no matter how challenging it is, we handle it perfectly.

We never wanted to be a typical football team. When we talk about being a family, we always mean it. We always want to create a world of our own - something that is not limited within those green grasses. We love to hangout together, we love to travel together and with all these, we have learnt a lot. One such thing is coming out of challenging moments making something out of nothing. There is a very popular phrase in our team - "Hum kuch na kuch manage kar lenge..." (we will manage something) and we thoroughly believe it. So when someone in the team says, "Humlog ke sath hone se hi sab thik ho jata hai" (Everything becomes fine when we are together), it lifts us up in no time.

Coming back to this lockdown period, we do not even know when it will end. We do not know when we will get back to the ground. All we expect is it will be not be as long as it is already.

In this uncertain period, the attitude of our group has been top class. I am extremely proud of what each and every individual associated with the team has done and is doing. Proud but not surprised. Because these are the things come naturally to us.

We organize quiz on daily basis to keep everyone motivated, chalked out plans to engage everyone more in watching the games when football resumed on TV. We are having weekly online fitness sessions - something that many professional clubs have not done. All these were possible because everyone has put enormous effort with same mentality - be it team management or players.

The work behind the scenes are humongous - from planning activities to executing the same, report preparation, documentation, discussions and planning again. The people in management watches videos for hours after hours to prepare the perfect presentation for players despite having own life, job and work pressure. At the same time, the players have followed whatever asked, scolded when didn't and always understood why it has been done. Discipline is something that is our utmost priority and this group has never failed to live up to it.

We have also taken this period as an opportunity to set up new things, plan for the future. The round of discussions we are having on how can we resume practices and what are the safety measures to be taken is a big indication how serious we are about this team, this game and how much we care for each other.

I am quite sure when we get back to the ground, we will be in our best shape. And if there is another pandemic, another lockdown happens in the future and I have been given a chance to choose my players out of crores of footballers in the world, I would like to get locked down with this group only. It is incredible to be part of this team.

Rajarshi Bhattacharya

Manager

FIIOB Kolkata