Pratik Shinde

We all football fans from India are majorly focused on transfer gossips happening in EPL. The crowd was very much interested in knowing about the latest transfer saga of Fernando Torres move to Chelsea but we never know what’s happening with Sunil Chhetri. The latest and most interesting Indian transfer in recent time who grabbed my attention is a 15 year old boy from Mumbai.

Pratik Shinde 15 yrs, created a landmark achievement after he was offered a 1 year contract with a US Soccer League based club Galvestone Pirate SC thus becoming the youngest Indian player to get a contract abroad.

Pratik who belongs to a place known as Chembur in Mumbai comes from a very much middle class background. His mother and his grandmother works as a domestic helper and  just a few days back his father passed away. The clubs for which Pratik has represented are namely Kenkre FC, Chembur United, Jupiter Sports Club, Steadfast FC.

His venture in Kenkre was very much fruitful he was noticed by the Air India U15 team coach but he refused to join the team. Then he moved to Andheri Football Academy where he met with his coach Maloy Sengupta. Senugupta turned out to be one of the catalysts behind the success of the young lad. He took Pratik he took him to the Gotcha Cup in Sweden and provided the young star the much needed exposure.  There he represented India and managed to get noticed by others when he managed to get his name in the scorer’s list against Germany.  His impressive performance in the tournament caught eye of a Spanish club Alcobendas FC and was also selected to play for them but his financial condition restricted him to go for a move.

The young lad prefers playing as a Central Midfielder and used to send his DVD’s and CV’s to different clubs abroad. His effort didn’t go in vain as it was noticed by Mr. Brendan Keyes, the head coach of Galveston Pirate SC contacted him after being impressed with the young kids talent. This was a very much surprise for Pratik but also for the whole nation. Mr. Keyes and Pratik reached over an agreement and the deal was finalized in a video conference via Skype.

Mr. Brendan Keyes turned out to be a real angel for him as he realized the poor financial condition of his family and offered him a big helping hand by sponsoring his food, education and all other expenses at the US.

I would say that this is a well-deserved achievement for the young lad and hope he creates wonders in the international platform and make our country proud.  I wish the young lad a great success.

Tags: Brendan Keyes, EPL, Galveston Pirate SC, India, Indian Football, Maloy Sengupta, Mumbai, National Premier Soccer Leagu, Pratik Shinde, US, US Soccer League