The Tournament That Taught Me Teamwork.
“The best football wasn’t played when I was chasing goals. It was played when our team started trusting each other.”
The Pro Super League is a competitive Bangalore club league at U-10, played over a full season of fixtures before a knockout finish. Avyaan played for Vicky FA Reds.
On the recordUnbeaten through the tournament — 15 played, 14 won and a single draw, 77 scored and 20 conceded — finishing with the Golden Boot (33 goals) and the trophy.
On the listThis is the sides his team actually played, from the match record — the full tournament field fills in as it’s shared.
4–4, won on penalties — Champions.
Match reportThe team's best — an 8–0 semi-final, five goals.
Match reportInto the knockouts — a controlled 3–0 quarter-final.
Match reportAnother 4–3 — two more goals as the league closed out.
Match reportA tight 4–3 — two goals.
Match reportAn open, end-to-end 6–3 win.
Match reportA 2–0 win over the team they'd meet in the final.
Match reportThe Reds beat the Blues 5–1 — two goals for Avyaan against the club's other side.
Match reportBack among the goals — two in a 4–2 win.
Match reportA narrow 2–1 win in the tough middle phase.
Match reportThe Reds won 6–2 — but Avyaan missed it, a clash with the Bangalore Champions Cup.
Match reportA goalless draw — and the point the tournament turned mental.
Match reportFive goals in a 9–0 win.
Match reportA clean 8–0 — three goals, three assists.
Match reportA 12–1 opening statement — six goals, five assists.
Match reportThe lead-up — the travel, the setting, the small moments before kick-off.Coming soon
PSL started perfectly — Vicky FA Reds won early and often, and Avyaan’s goals came in a flood. Then, midway, the leaderboard at the venue started to matter more than the game. He was sitting second in the U-10 scoring charts, a close friend a few places back, and for a couple of matches the two of them stopped passing and started chasing the board. They still won — but they stopped playing well.
The turn came from two places at once: a quiet word on the drive home, and a session Coach Anwar set aside for exactly this. (That whole story is in the reflection below.) From there, the football opened back up.
The knockouts were them at their best — a 3–0 quarter-final (two for Avyaan), an 8–0 semi-final (five), and a 4–4 final settled on penalties (two more). Across the whole tournament the Reds went unbeaten — fifteen played, none lost, fourteen won and a single draw — 77 scored and 20 conceded.
Avyaan finished as Top Scorer of the tournament — his first Golden Boot — with 33 goals. But the part worth keeping is what happened in the middle, and how he came out of it.
The candid read: what stood out, and what still needs work.Coming soon
“He is a diamond.
What other parents noticed, and shared.Coming soon
Being documentedThe logistics and award details for each tournament are added over time — dashes mark what’s still to be recorded.
This tournament taught me as much as it taught Avyaan. They started perfectly — four, five wins without trouble. PSL puts a board up at the venue: the table, the top scorers, the stats. Avyaan sat second in the U-10 scoring charts, with one of his closest friends a few places back. Then, over two games, I watched something I didn’t like — both of them chasing the board instead of the game, no passing, all frustration. He’d been averaging two or three a match; those two games he managed one, then two, forcing it, and you could see the desperation on his face. They won both, but they didn’t play well — and it spilled into how we all were off the pitch.
Driving home, the only thing I told him was: play your natural game, the one you love. Don’t chase goals — play well, and they’ll come.
Then I did something I’d never done. I still went — someone had to drop him and bring him home — but I decided not to watch them play. I told him the truth: “I love watching you play from your heart. Whether you score isn’t what matters to me; how you play is. And these last few games, I haven’t enjoyed watching you or the team play this way. If it carries on, I’ll drop you and come back for you, but I won’t stay to watch.” And I meant it — for the next few games I stayed off the touchline.
I wasn’t the only one who saw it — Coach Anwar had too, and took the boys aside for a session on exactly this.
The first game I didn’t watch, I came back to collect him and walked over to him on the field — my friend there too, his teammate’s father — and before a word about the result, the first thing he said was, “Dad, today our coordination was so good.” My friend said the same. From there they were unstoppable, all the way to a final they won on penalties. I didn’t see the knockouts or the final — I was ill by then — but I didn’t need the scoreline. He’d already learned the part I cared about. The Golden Boot was lovely; watching them rediscover playing together was the thing.