<p>With an impressive physique and a calm demeanour Mohammed Tanjeer, 19, stands out from the crowd of children and youths walking aimlessly in his slum in Vikaspuri.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Being a professional footballer, his CV is quiet impressive. Adjudged the best player in Delhi Youth League in 2015, and top scorer in the League this year, Tanjeer had an offer to join Liverpool FC’s Pune academy a couple of years back. However due to lack of funds, he let the offer pass.<br /><br />“Arranging Rs 5 lakh was a big task. I tried to arrange it, but it didn’t happen,” rues Tanjeer.<br /><br />A product of My Angels Academy, Tanjeer currently gives coaching at a west Delhi private school, and is preparing for trials at Mohan Bagan and East Bengal clubs in the coming winter.<br /><br />One of the brightest ‘angels’ of My Angels Academy, Tanjeer was far from being what he is today when he had joined it seven years back, says Sylvester Peter, his coach and mentor.<br /><br />“He used to beg for a living. Being a son of a labourer father and a housemaid mother, begging and ragpicking were the two options he had in front of him,” Peter says.<br /><br />After falling in bad company, Tanjeer had also started stealing things, and would spend the money on smoking and drinking, says Peter.<br /><br />Peter persuaded him to join the academy and would give him lot of toys to play with <br />initially. Gradually, his talent started to shine on the football field. With a strong physique and good stamina he could do what most other couldn’t.<br /><br />“I improved as a footballer and started hitting goals in different leagues in the city,” <br />Tanjeer recalls.<br /><br />The efforts of Peter and Tanjeer over the years bore fruit when Tanjeer was selected by Liverpool International Academy in Pune, which is a full-time residential academy with world-class infrastructure and coaches and support from Liverpool FC. <br />However, this excellent news was dampened by the fact that a significant amount was required to pay the annual fees there. <br /><br />Though My Angels Academy is a registered trust, it has been functioning mainly with the personal savings of Peter and his friends for the past two decades. There has always been a cash crunch and lack of resources to support the training of more than 130 children.<br /><br />Like Tanjeer, Anand, 13, is also treading the same path. According to Peter he is the best striker he has seen among the lot yet. Not as strongly built as Tanjeer, Anand is however very flexible and quick.<br /><br />He and Rajkumar, another product of the academy, were the two of the three footballers who got selected from a crowd of 2,000 in Delhi to visit the training campus of FC Metz in France.<br /><br />“We went there after being selected at a trial in Delhi’s Ambedkar Stadium. At Metz we had a two-week training programme where we were trained by their coaches,” <br />says Anand.<br /><br />Forced to flee his native village in Bihar following a flood, Anand and his family came to Delhi in 2006.<br /><br />“He would also roam around in the slum like me and used to give lots of gaalis,” says Tanjeer.<br /><br />One day, at the request of his relative who is also in the academy, Peter took him under his wings.<br /><br />“Using foul language is banned here and if someone uses it he or she is punished in the form of being dropped from football game,” Peter says. Working on the kid for a few months worked wonders and he emerged as one of the brightest talents of the academy, says Peter.<br /><br />Anand is the current top scorer in Delhi Youth League’s under-13 tournament, and Peter is determined to train him to become an even better football player. <br /><br />“His goal is to get selected for the national team,” says a senior Academy student.<br />Not every ‘angel’ at the academy goes on to become a football player. Like Sandeep, 28, who joined the academy when he was mere 5 and used to beg in front of temples. Today, he works with Indian Bank.<br /><br />“I was good in football too, but those days bhaiyya (Peter) didn’t have contacts which could have put me into any decent club or tournament. Then I told him that I want to study,” says Sandeep.<br /><br />After completing his graduation through correspondence, Sandeep spent one year to prepare for the Civil Services exam. He didn’t have money to get coaching for that, so he gave up after the first attempt. He then started preparing for the bank exam and on his third attempt cleared it.<br /><br />“Today I am a chief cashier with Indian Bank. I contribute half of my salary to the academy,” Sandeep says.<br /><br />Not only does he provide monetary help, but after office hours he invariable comes to the academy and teaches other students. After Peter, Sandeep is the one whom <br />the kids look up to in theacademy.<br /><br />“Despite doing well professionally and all the resources to settle somewhere else, Sandeep still lives in the slum as he feels he owes something to it and the academy,” Peter says.<br /><br /></p>
<p>With an impressive physique and a calm demeanour Mohammed Tanjeer, 19, stands out from the crowd of children and youths walking aimlessly in his slum in Vikaspuri.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Being a professional footballer, his CV is quiet impressive. Adjudged the best player in Delhi Youth League in 2015, and top scorer in the League this year, Tanjeer had an offer to join Liverpool FC’s Pune academy a couple of years back. However due to lack of funds, he let the offer pass.<br /><br />“Arranging Rs 5 lakh was a big task. I tried to arrange it, but it didn’t happen,” rues Tanjeer.<br /><br />A product of My Angels Academy, Tanjeer currently gives coaching at a west Delhi private school, and is preparing for trials at Mohan Bagan and East Bengal clubs in the coming winter.<br /><br />One of the brightest ‘angels’ of My Angels Academy, Tanjeer was far from being what he is today when he had joined it seven years back, says Sylvester Peter, his coach and mentor.<br /><br />“He used to beg for a living. Being a son of a labourer father and a housemaid mother, begging and ragpicking were the two options he had in front of him,” Peter says.<br /><br />After falling in bad company, Tanjeer had also started stealing things, and would spend the money on smoking and drinking, says Peter.<br /><br />Peter persuaded him to join the academy and would give him lot of toys to play with <br />initially. Gradually, his talent started to shine on the football field. With a strong physique and good stamina he could do what most other couldn’t.<br /><br />“I improved as a footballer and started hitting goals in different leagues in the city,” <br />Tanjeer recalls.<br /><br />The efforts of Peter and Tanjeer over the years bore fruit when Tanjeer was selected by Liverpool International Academy in Pune, which is a full-time residential academy with world-class infrastructure and coaches and support from Liverpool FC. <br />However, this excellent news was dampened by the fact that a significant amount was required to pay the annual fees there. <br /><br />Though My Angels Academy is a registered trust, it has been functioning mainly with the personal savings of Peter and his friends for the past two decades. There has always been a cash crunch and lack of resources to support the training of more than 130 children.<br /><br />Like Tanjeer, Anand, 13, is also treading the same path. According to Peter he is the best striker he has seen among the lot yet. Not as strongly built as Tanjeer, Anand is however very flexible and quick.<br /><br />He and Rajkumar, another product of the academy, were the two of the three footballers who got selected from a crowd of 2,000 in Delhi to visit the training campus of FC Metz in France.<br /><br />“We went there after being selected at a trial in Delhi’s Ambedkar Stadium. At Metz we had a two-week training programme where we were trained by their coaches,” <br />says Anand.<br /><br />Forced to flee his native village in Bihar following a flood, Anand and his family came to Delhi in 2006.<br /><br />“He would also roam around in the slum like me and used to give lots of gaalis,” says Tanjeer.<br /><br />One day, at the request of his relative who is also in the academy, Peter took him under his wings.<br /><br />“Using foul language is banned here and if someone uses it he or she is punished in the form of being dropped from football game,” Peter says. Working on the kid for a few months worked wonders and he emerged as one of the brightest talents of the academy, says Peter.<br /><br />Anand is the current top scorer in Delhi Youth League’s under-13 tournament, and Peter is determined to train him to become an even better football player. <br /><br />“His goal is to get selected for the national team,” says a senior Academy student.<br />Not every ‘angel’ at the academy goes on to become a football player. Like Sandeep, 28, who joined the academy when he was mere 5 and used to beg in front of temples. Today, he works with Indian Bank.<br /><br />“I was good in football too, but those days bhaiyya (Peter) didn’t have contacts which could have put me into any decent club or tournament. Then I told him that I want to study,” says Sandeep.<br /><br />After completing his graduation through correspondence, Sandeep spent one year to prepare for the Civil Services exam. He didn’t have money to get coaching for that, so he gave up after the first attempt. He then started preparing for the bank exam and on his third attempt cleared it.<br /><br />“Today I am a chief cashier with Indian Bank. I contribute half of my salary to the academy,” Sandeep says.<br /><br />Not only does he provide monetary help, but after office hours he invariable comes to the academy and teaches other students. After Peter, Sandeep is the one whom <br />the kids look up to in theacademy.<br /><br />“Despite doing well professionally and all the resources to settle somewhere else, Sandeep still lives in the slum as he feels he owes something to it and the academy,” Peter says.<br /><br /></p>
