
Azaan Sayed has had a passion for sports since the very beginning. In his early years, he preferred playing cricket over football. His passion for football cultivated when playing lunchtime football with his friends in school and watching Iniesta lead his team to Spain’s first ever World Cup in 2010. Azaan continued to follow his fierce passion for football and eventually got accepted to Upper Canada College, one of Canada’s finest schools.
Over there, he got the opportunity to test his skills and play football at a very high level for the first time. “My favorite part about playing for UCC is the football trips we used to have – it was always fun traveling with the team and playing football in different conditions, but I never thought playing in cold weather would be so hard,” says Azaan.
While discussing his experiences of playing varsity football, he mentions that the biggest difference to playing in Dhaka is that athletes spend more time in improving their fitness levels, reinforced by the fact that their facilities are superior to what students in Dhaka have. Another aspect is that players start training significantly younger, so that their football IQ and skills are developed at an early age.
After finishing high school, Azaan wanted to stay in Toronto for university. With the help of NLSM and Shayer Khan, our Co-Founder and Director of Recruitment, Azaan was able to reach out to the best coaches and finalize his decision on Ryerson University. The university is known for its sports teams and its outstanding business school. Azaan dreams of playing football professionally and getting to the highest level he can. We hope that with the guidance of NLSM, he can realize the dream of playing professional football in the future.