Right now, 18-year-old Rahul Bahl is just a normal teenager living at his parents’ home in Tampa. He eats home-made food, plays video games with friends, spends time with his girlfriend, and hangs out with his parents in the living room. This will all change in the fall when Rahul packs his bags to move to Europe to compete with the best young football (soccer in American terms) talent in the world.
He has just returned from playing his first season with the Division de Honor in Spain – the country’s top-ranked youth football league. Rahul is the first person of Indian origin to play at that level, and despite the sedate pace of his holiday, his short career already has the makings of a promising sports biopic.
An Early Start
Football fever started early for the Tampa-born teen when his uncle Darryl Gama introduced him to the game as a toddler. Gama once played competitive football in Goa and spotted his nephew’s potential as the boy kicked a ball around his mother’s boutique in Tampa.
“It’s a very core memory for me,” said Rahul, “he’d just sit me down next to him and I’d watch games with him, and I loved it!”
By the time he was four, Rahul was already competing with six-year-olds at a local club – the Wesley Chapel FC. His mother, who owns an Indian clothing boutique, and his father, a businessman, were not sports enthusiasts but they supported Bahl’s keen interest in the sport; they drove him to and from games and cheered from the sidelines. Then, tragedy struck.
When Rahul was ten years old, Darryl Gama passed away in a car accident. Rahul was gutted but resolved to keep his uncle’s memory alive through football, the sport they both loved.
“He was my biggest motivator, always waking me up early for training, so I said to my parents that I want to do it for him.”
Soon after, through a corporate talent showcase, Rahul was invited to play in Germany – a European football mecca. Rahul found the experience exhilarating and reaffirming.
“I basically manifested that I would come through [to Europe] in the following year again,” said Rahul, thinking back to when he was a twelve-year-old boy just returning from his first stint of competitive football abroad. Becoming a professional footballer was no longer a pipe dream, and Europe was the place to do it.
The Dream Continues
The path to becoming a professional athlete came with its share of sacrifices. For Rahul, it meant leaving home at 13 to attend high school at the nearby IMG Academy, a residential school offering top-of-the-line sports training facilities. Surrounded by other athletes and learning from the best in the business, Rahul progressed quickly. But it came at a cost.
“I was really only hanging out with other football players,” he reflected. “When it comes to Indian functions or parties with family friends, I don’t really know how to put myself out there. I’m always used to talking about ‘Oh, did you see Real Madrid score this week?’ It’s weird to talk about other stuff. I do get socially anxious, but that’s just part of the game.”
A year into his time at IMG, Rahul played a game against the German club SC Borea Dresden, and impressed a scout with his technical ability. A week later, Rahul had an offer to play for Borea Dresden the following season.
His parents wondered if Rahul was ready. “You’d have to move all by yourself, leave the US,” they said. “I just looked back and said, last year I manifested for this very opportunity,” Rahul recounted. “So of course, let’s do it!”
The next year, he flew out to Germany. It was one of the most pivotal seasons of his career and took some adjusting to. First, his coach changed his position from central attacking midfielder to striker. Then, he saw up close the downside of playing football in a country that takes the sport seriously – nasty fans.
In his very first game against a popular local club, Rahul’s team was up 1-0. Fans of the opposing team made their displeasure clear. “There were only a few minutes left in the game, and all I could hear was racist stuff. It was actually crazy” said Rahul. “Everyone over there is predominantly white, I was more or less the only brown guy… mentally it got to me, because I was only 13 years old.”
It was one of the toughest moments of his career. Feeling emotional and mental vulnerability while playing a sport he loved was a new experience for Rahul. But the nerves of playing his first game disappeared and in his third match, Rahul scored his first goal in European football.
“I didn’t even know how to celebrate,” he said. “Just the fact that I could compete with European guys, I felt like I belonged there.”
Division de Honor
Just as Rahul hit his stride in Germany, the season came to an abrupt end when the pandemic hit. He returned to Tampa with sixteen goals to his credit, facing months of lockdown ahead. All he could do to train was work on his touch.
But Rahul wasn’t anxious. He believed that greater things were right around the corner for him.. As the pandemic retreated, he accepted an offer to play the 2021 season with F.C. Málaga City, a club in southern Spain.
Rahul found that the Spanish style of play – more technical, less physical – suited him better. Still only fifteen, he was adept enough to compete in a team of mostly 17-year-olds.
He spent the next two years playing for different Spanish clubs, moving up the ranks of youth football. Then, in February of this year, Rahul landed an offer from A.D. Union Adarve, a club that plays in the prestigious Division de Honor.
When Rahul took the field for his first match with them, he became the first player of Indian origin to play in the Division de Honor, the highest level of youth football in the country. Rahul considered it a reward born from his hard work and manifestation.
“When you put things out there, your inner self is trying to push yourself towards that goal, so I do feel like manifestation is really helpful,” he said. “If you put it out there, it’s gonna happen.”
“I’m not gonna wait for nothing”
Following a successful debut season with the Division de Honor, Rahul is back home, deciding his next move. He already has offers from multiple European clubs for the next season which will take him from the youth leagues to his first foray into men’s professional football. Rahul and his father – who doubles as his manager – will spend the summer figuring out the best option.
Summer is also when Rahul gets a break from an online undergraduate program in bio-behavioral health at Penn State University. But his hunger to ascend the upper echelons of European professional football temper Rahul’s downtime indulgences.
So while he plays video games with friends, he also watches Manchester City games to make copious notes about Kevin DeBruyn’s tactics. While he gorges on his mom’s cooking, he also grits his way through yoga to build his concentration. He hopes to feature someday on international sports pages but he approaches this goal with self-awareness, discipline, and a level-headedness beyond his 18 years. Combined with his unwavering self-belief and athletic prowess, Rahul appears primed for success.
“Sometimes I do feel scared,” he said, “but I feel like the longer you feel scared, you get to a point where you can freeze up. My belief is that I’ll keep going until something stops me, and I’m not gonna wait for nothing.”
In this biopic, the characters are in place, and the first act is solid. With such a winning protagonist, the denouement is likely to be dazzling.