Birmingham City Football Club Success
Arijus shares some of his experience to date:
I started my football career at the early age of four. At the time, my job was to balance between tennis and gymnastics at the same time, while football was not really my main focus and I never thought that I would have a football career one day. Balancing school life, studying, gymnastics, football and tennis was easy and I really enjoyed it all.
At the age of six I was scouted for a club, so at the age of seven, I decided to focus on football and football only, working harder and harder every day. Having been scouted for a club showed me that I was working along the right path. When I was eight, I played for Aston Villa, Birmingham City, West Brom and Wolverhampton, all at the same time, on the top of playing in the Sunday League. I was only thinking of football and even more football. After a year or so playing for four clubs, I was starting to get offered contracts. The first club that offered me a contract was Wolverhampton and then Birmingham City came along too. I liked both clubs and have friends in both places, but life entails tough decisions. Looking back now, it is certainly a decision that I am proud of.
It wasn’t until March 2020 when things started to get tough. I started studying for the 11+ in the rise of Covid-19 pandemic and the first national lockdown. You would have thought that the lockdown would have meant that I had a lot of time to study, but my club career was also demanding. I still had four online meetings a week with Birmingham City. The sessions lasted from half an hour up to two hours. I really enjoyed the experience but wished to be back on the pitch. Some of the fun bits of the lockdown were the competitions set by Blues, such as the toilet paper challenge and the three-round challenge. The three-round challenge included kick-ups, bin shots and wall bounces. I was fortunate to win the challenge. I was also very lucky to have been involved in online chats with Geraldo Bajrami, Nathan Redmond and Jude Bellingham.
In September 2021 I started at King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School, and I found the school demands at another level. The club demand is also elevating. Now I am playing five times a week, plus school work and homework making things tougher and tougher. Many people say I do too much; but you know, there is no free lunch when following a dream. So, I go for it. I am happy and proud of my achievements so far and hope to continue to develop them. I will keep you posted on my career!
Arijus Ahmadian (7G)
