EL Play student Rudresh Gaudnour travels from Pune to Moscow for Gazprom FIFA Football for Friendship (F4F) Program
Rudresh Gaudnour is a 7th grader from Pandit Dindayal EMS in Pune and an active participant of the EL Play football for leadership program for over 3 years. From over thousands of children who submitted their essays for the opportunity, this 12-year-old was selected to represent India as a Young Journalist reporting on all the local and global activities of the Gazprom FIFA Football For Friendship (F4F) program in Russia earlier in June. As part of the program, participants were also invited as guests at the Opening Ceremony of the FIFA 2018 World Cup and watch the first game.
Apart from being an amazing footballer known as ‘The Mentalist’ on his school team The Kothrud Wolves, Rudresh is also an all-rounder at school – drafting the player’s code for his team, winning essay writing competitions and the editor-in-chief of his school newsletter.
Here he shares his first-hand experience from Pune to Moscow:
Two take-offs
“The opportunity to represent India as a young journalist at the Football For Friendship in Moscow came with many firsts for me. I took my FIRST EVER domestic and international flight! I was very nervous when we left home but my team decided to drop me at the Mumbai Airport all the way from Pune. We had a fun bus ride discussing what Russia will be like and Karen Didi – from Enabling Leadership who was my accompanying-adult – told us stories of Russia and what to expect especially about the food and weather.
The journey from Pune to Mumbai and then New Delhi to Moscow was long and hectic but also exciting – from boarding an airplane for the very first time to the take-off when it felt like my heart sunk, to being served food up in the air, to watching the clouds and TV all at the same time!
Arrival at Moscow
When we reached, the excitement of being in a foreign country and the cold breeze all hit me together. We were welcomed by the F4F team and from there team India, Bhutan and China all travelled together to this massive hotel where we all stayed together. Surya, the young footballer from India, and I were even given our own room, surrounded by kids from countries I hadn’t even heard the names of.
The rest of the day was free, so Karen Didi took me the Red Square and to see the Kremlin. We even had ice cream although the weather was less than 6 degrees! Taking the metro was so different from the trains in India and the roads were clean, buildings huge and everything so beautiful.
New friends. New learnings.
The next morning, we were assigned team leaders who split us up and introduced us to our teammates. All teams were named after endangered species and Surya and I were put into team Orangutan. All those countries I hadn’t heard of were now part of my team – Georgia, Lesotho, Papa New Guinea, Seychelles, Belarus and Russia! Over the next three days, we all bonded while attending training camps where we received an orientation on the nine F4F values of honour, friendship, victory, peace, fairness, equality, health, devotion and tradition.
As a young journalist, I was a part of the Press Centre training sessions conducted by well-known journalists and photographers. We learned about the format of writing a newspaper report, how to begin writing one and the important pieces that have to be a part of an article. We had a separate session on photographs and how to use them to support the words we would write. Over the course of the week, we were required to write one article every day and the most well-written one would get published in the daily F4F Newsletter!
During those days, I began to see how like with football, even being a journalist requires practice, teamwork, hard work and passion. As a footballer at heart, these will remain my core values, on and off the ground.
Once-in-a-lifetime experiences
On Day 5, we had the Football For Friendship Championship matches among the teams we were divided into. Orangutan played really well and won their first two games but lost their third game and didn’t qualify for the quarterfinals. We were very disappointed at first but because of the values we had learnt, we got over it quickly and cheered for the teams that went on to play and finally team Chimpanzee won the F4F Championship. There was a huge closing ceremony with dancers, music, colourful bands being shot into the air. It was like watching the trophy ceremony of a world championship on television.
On Day 6, we had the morning free before the F4F Forum and so Karen Didi took us out and we bought a lot of souvenirs to take back home for my family and my teammates.
The Forum was at the Moskvarium which was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. They told me it’s the largest aquarium in Europe, but I really didn’t expect to see all that sea life and especially the shows by Russian trapeze artists, trained sea lions and killer sharks! Also, Iker Casillas, the Spanish Goalkeeper, was part of the Forum along with delegates from FIFA and Gazprom, it all being scary, awesome and beyond my wildest imagination.
On Day 7, I had the opportunity of a lifetime to watch the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup and the first match played between Russia and Saudi Arabia. Entering the Luzhniki stadium itself was great and watching Robbie Williams perform, Russian artists cover the ground with their bright outfits and props and finally, the kick-off of the game was all a dream come true. What followed were the most amazing 90 minutes packed with exciting football that was better than any game I have played or watched on TV.
The stadium was full of football-crazed fans and every goal scored and every missed opportunity made everyone jump out of their seats. I have never been part of a Mexican wave of this kind before and doing it alongside 78,000 people, was brilliant! I was supporting Russia throughout the game but the one thing that the Saudi Arabia team taught me was to not give up. They kept giving the game a 100% until the last whistle was blown.
This was one of the most special days of my life and I don’t think I will ever forget it. Here’s an article I wrote about it that got published in the paper. Made me feel like a real journalist!
Bringing it all back
Looking back at the children I met and interacted with during the entire week, I saw how quickly I was able to make friends with so many of them – even though we came from different backgrounds, belonged to different nationalities and spoke different languages. I have never made friends with anyone so soon after meeting them for the first time. In spite of the short span of time together, we began sharing our secrets with each other and turned the hotel corridors into our own little football ground.
The food there was different but I did miss the meals cooked by my mother. I missed my family because I didn’t have them with me to share my happy moments through the week nor was I there with them to be a part of theirs. I also missed my football team and coach a lot. We have been together for five years and every time I would see a football practice on, I would be reminded of my team back home and our time together as a unit.
Now that I am back home with my family and my team, I also miss the friends I made at F4F. It was just a week but it gave me lessons for life – I am now more confident, I know all people are the same no matter from where, and most importantly I am not going to be afraid of dreaming big. I want to play for my country someday and I want to hear our National Anthem at a World Cup in the future!”
