Playing abroad was a real eye-opener for me: Kean Lewis

“Life has no limitations, except the ones you make” by Les Brown is an ideal quote that truly resembles Kean Lewis. The 28-year-old was born and raised in Mumbai, but decided to take a challenge overseas at a tender age. Kean has been an integral part of national and international clubs like Houston Dynamo FC, Mohun Bagan, Pune City, Bengaluru FC, and Sudeva Delhi FC.
In a candid chat, Kean speaks about the hardships of living his dreams in the US and India, passion to upgrade his skillsets and the potential of sports for development initiatives.
EXCERPTS:
How has your transformation been as a player and a person after your stints in foreign countries and locally?
I began playing here in India from a young age in school. It as at Mahindra United, that I got my first exposure to constructive coaching and training. At school, there wasn’t much training but they always supported me to go out and train at a better level. After playing at Mahindra for 4 years I got picked up by Tata Football Academy (TFA). I lived in their hostel and got a glimpse into what the next generation of footballers in India do to achieve their dreams of playing pro. For me and my family though, it wasn’t just about football. The idea was to grow beyond just playing football, which is why I left TFA 2 years in and decided to go to the USA.
Of course, I got a scholarship and the opportunity to play at the Division 1 collegiate level, but more than that it was about being able to pursue both education and sports, something that is still lacking in India. As a person, I grew immensely in the US, learnt to pay my bills, work part-time, get assignments turned in, training rigorously, cooking and meal prep. As a player, I developed more into a winger than as what I initially went to the USA as — a striker. The coaching helped me transform technically, tactically, physically and psychologically. Overall my athletic advisors, major advisors and faculty all helped me with career options and always thinking about the next step in life.
My University coach even helped me get an on-campus job at the gym where I worked for 2 years. I also ended up working at Subway for a few months to pay the bills as I didn’t want to take or ask for money from home. After graduating with a degree from a top Uni in New Jersey I got the opportunity to play semi-pro with Houston Dynamo, which was the best experience I’ve had in the USA. I also had to stay employed and thus was working as well to keep my visa status intact.
Playing abroad was a real eyeopener for me. It showed me exactly what India lacks and why football has developed quicker in other places. Getting a degree in sports management and my coaching licenses in the USA, further enhanced my capacity to understand the systems in the sporting world.
As a player, you’ve had the opportunity to play in three big cities of India (Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi). Which one would you rate to be the best footballing city? State your reasons.
Something that I love doing is travelling and football has enabled me to do so. I enjoying playing in different cities as I get to explore them as well. If you go to see, I never got the opportunity to play professionally in my home city, Mumbai. It’s been only early on in my youth stages when I played in Mumbai. Since the age of 16 though I’ve been away from home. It’s not just those three big cities, I’ve kicked off my professional career in Kolkata in India, for giants Mohun Bagan. The love the city has for football is commendable, but of course, with the passion and love of the fans comes the pressure to perform and win trophies. But for me, the best city would be Bangalore where I joined a team with a legacy of winning trophies. BFC was the best team I’ve played for not only because we became ISL champions in my first season with them and played 90% of the games but because they are the benchmark of what a professional club should be in India.
The management, the players, the functioning of the club is very similar to what I experienced at Leicester City – professional, trusting, punctual, understanding, this is what builds a solid relationship between the club and the players. I fell in love with the city also because of its amazing weather and vegan eateries which made my journey here so much more enjoyable off the field. Although for me, at the moment I think Kerala is the best footballing state. No matter the city, the people of Kerala are passionate and promote their players even if they are playing in other states. This is a state that I’d want to play in to experience the support of the fans.
Having studied sport in the US, how do you think the football ecosystem is structured here in India? What can be the learnings for Indian football from US Soccer?
India has a lot to learn. The setup that the USA has is right from high school to college to the pro levels. The players are tracked, scouted, coached well, educated about nutrition and injury, and understand what it takes to become a professional from a very young age. A scouting system is also in place to recognise the talent that does well through the ages. If I look back at my career I don’t recollect any systems at the school or college levels for players to be recognised. Coaching was barely existent. How do we expect players to develop in such a scenario?
It also is about allowing kids to be student-athletes and not only a student or only an athlete which is generally the situation in India. Players have to decide whether to pursue sports or choose another line of work. This leads to spreading awareness about making sports a career which means showing that the pay is good, there are benefits of becoming a pro athlete, because the process of getting there is long and doesn’t happen overnight. For this, you need years of investment in your food, training hours, simultaneous education, discipline, belief and support from the surroundings.
Alongside your career as a footballer, you also run an academy, do you have any plans of expanding it or running multiple sporting ventures in the future?
I think as a footballer you have to be ready for a second career or a post-playing career. Sport is an uncertain career. You may be out of a job because of a serious injury or family issues, so you have to be prepared for life after or beyond sport. That mindset was always instilled in me from the start. I spent a few years coaching in the USA and it was amazing, where I realised I enjoyed coaching young kids and sharing the knowledge I had. Moreover still playing actively there I could easily associate with what my players went through. Although I coached ages between 8-18 of both genders, there was so much learning for me and I would love to have that opportunity again in the future.
The kids’ academy I was working with loved my work and was willing to sponsor my visa. At that time I was only 21 and still wanted to pursue my dream of playing professional which is why I came back to India, declining that offer. These coaching stints with 3 different clubs in Houston (Soccer Shots, Houston Dynamo Youth Program and Albion Hurricanes) is what inspired me to start an academy in my home city, Thane, to give the kids from my area the opportunity that I never had growing up. Since I would be away from home playing in different cities, I began this with a friend Vaibhav Karpe, so that he could be in charge when I wasn’t around. What I sought with our academy was to coach them beyond just the aspect of the field but of life as well.
The idea was to provide them with holistic development. They needed to learn modern life skills for professional sport — working social media, speaking skills for interviews, psychological evaluations, self-assessments, dealing with their successes & failures, nutrition habits, parental support and so on. Now I’ve handed the entire ownership to my friend who runs it but I continue to stay involved with them. I want to be able to get into further coaching with bigger clubs at a higher level in the future which is why I’m working on getting my UEFA licensing. I continue to do freelancing work in the offseason with other academies and also do private coaching. It keeps me busy and also engaged with the game.
What are your immediate goals and long term aspirations?
My immediate goal now is to get a contract with a club and then get preparing for the next season. I will spend a few days with my family when the season ends, travel a bit and post that the offseason work begins. I’ll also complete my final exam for the sports psychology course I’ve been taking for the last 4 months. Along with my training, I’ll be also doing a few private coaching assignments and then sessions for some academies.
In the long run, I’m on course to complete my UEFA C license so I need to prepare and figure out when I can travel for the final assessment. In a couple of months, I’ll also finish my sports law course. By the end of all this hope, the next pre-season will await me.
If you ask me what I plan on doing long term as in, post my playing career, my answer would be that I want to get into coaching. Although I think the trend now for all players is to become coaches. I would essentially want to work overseas as the Head Coach in an academy or University. It will enable me to travel and also embrace new cultures, I think the learning curve for this is much more than what I would have in India as I’ve seen the system here for the majority of my life. I also would want to get into commentating which is another option that I would like to explore.
For Trial related updates: Latest trials updates in Mumbai Football
Also Read: India go down to UAE in Dubai
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all the latest happenings in the world of Indian football
RoundGlass Punjab FC announces squad for Punjab Super League 2022
Mohali, August 12: RoundGlass Punjab FC is all set to begin its Punjab State Super Football League 2022 campaign with its first match on Tuesday, August 16, against Jagat Singh Palahi…
FIFA suspends All India Football Federation
The Bureau of the FIFA Council has unanimously decided to suspend the All India Football Federation (AIFF) with immediate effect due to undue influence from third parties, which constitutes a…
WIFA Women's Championship / WIFA Women's Football League
WIFA Women’s Football League: Kolhapur Warriors Beat Kenkre In Tournament Opener
The opening game of the WIFA Women’s Football League saw Kolhapur Warriors beat Kenkre FC 3-1 kicking off their campaign with all three points The early morning fixture of Day…
C0A Statement
NEW DELHI: The Committee of Administrators (CoA) has expressed its surprise and disappointment at the recent turn of events, by dint of which, the All India Football Federation has been…
FC Goa take on Mohammedan SC in Durand Cup 2022 opener
Goa, August 15, 2022: In what is set to be a repeat of the Durand Cup 2021 final, defending champions FC Goa are all set to lock horns with Mohammedan…
Deggie Cardozo: No ‘added’ pressure in Durand Cup as defending champions
Goa, August 11, 2022: FC Goa won the hearts of fans last year with their stellar performances in the Durand Cup. Braving the odds, the Gaurs wrapped up their Durand…
WIFA Women's Championship / WIFA Women's Football League
WIFA Women’s Football League: Sasmita strikes three as PIFA kick off title defence in style
Match 2 of the WIFA Women’s Football league saw, defending champions PIFA Sports kicking off their campaign in style with a 5-0 win over Puneri Warriors The defending champions PIFA’s…
WIFA Women's Championship / WIFA Women's Football League
WIFA Women’s Football League: Aspire FC blows apart lawless United with a 4-0 win
Pune-based Aspire FC kicked off their WIFA WFL campaign with a convincing 4-0 win over Lawless United of Palghar Aspire kicked off the proceeding and took control of the game…
Blue Tigers to play International Friendlies against Singapore, Vietnam
NEW DELHI: The Senior Men’s Indian Football Team will be back in action in September, when they play two International Friendlies against Singapore and Vietnam. The Blue Tigers will travel to…
WIFA Women's Championship / WIFA Women's Football League
WIFA Women’s Football League – Mumbai Knights stamp authority with 7-0 win over footie first
Riding on a first-half brace from Mmehak Lobo and a brilliant hat-trick from Priyanka later on, Mumbai Knights produced a clinical display of football as they romped home to a…
OSCAR SSE to conduct trials for Youth I League and YPL team in the U13 category in Mumbai
Mumbai-based OSCAR SSE will conduct trials for their Youth I League and YPL team on 16th and 17th July 2022 at Wings Sports Centre ground. Oscar SSE is a 2-star…
ROQS to host trials for MFA Super Division
ROQS is revamping their squad for the upcoming season of the MFA Super Division. The team is organising trials for the men’s football team on Monday, 11th of July, 2022….
MSP Academy is holding trials for the upcoming MFA Youth League
MFA Super Division club Mumbai Soccer Prodigies will be conducting trials for their MFA Youth League campaign on 22nd May 2022 in Bandra, Mumbai. Founded in 2006, the Mumbai Soccer…
Mumbai Football / Recommended / Trials
Football School of India to conduct Youth Trials
Mumbai-based Football School of India is going to conduct youth trials for its boys and girls squads. The trials will be conducted for players in the age group of under-13…
Bengaluru FC Elite Youth Football Trials
Bengaluru Football Club is a professional club that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL) and are past champions of the I-League and ISL. The club has launched its Soccer…
D’Souza Football Academy to conduct Youth Trials
Mumbai-based D’Souza Football Academy is going to conduct football scholarship trials for its youth squads. The trials will be conducted for players in the age group of under-7 to under-15….
Oscar SSE to conduct trials for Youth I-League in U13, U15&U18 category in Mumbai
OSCAR SSE, an AIFF Accredited Academy invites all U13, U15 & U18 players from ALL SOCIO-ECONOMIC backgrounds for football trials to join our Elite teams to train round the year…
Elite Division / MDFA / Recommended / Trials
Air India to conduct senior team trials for MFA Elite League on Monday
Mumbai-based Air India FC is set to conduct trials for their Senior Team to play the MFA Elite (Corporate) Division. One of the top-tier clubs from Mumbai – Air India…
MDFA / Mumbai Football / Recommended / Trials
Air India to hold youth team trials on Monday
Mumbai-based Air India FC is set to conduct trials for their Youth Team for the MFA Super (Corporate) Division. One of the top-tier clubs from Mumbai – Air India will…
MDFA / Recommended / Trials
Bhaichung Bhutia’s Residential Academy set to conduct trials in Mumbai
16th March, 2022: Bhaichung Bhutia Football Schools (BBFS) will conduct Residential Academy trials in Maharashtra for the academic year 2022-23. In the next few months, the trials will be organized…