Meet Shah Huzaib: Kashmir Teenager Breaking The Internet With His Crazy Football Trick Shots
Shah Huzaib, a teenager from central Kashmir's Budgam district, has stunned people with his unique football trick skills.
Shah Huzaib is no ordinary teenager. A class 12 student from Kashmir's Budgam district, Shah is a 19-year-old boy who is going viral on social media for his insane football trick shots.
Shah is studying Medicine in Aakash Srinagar Institute and has always been an avid football fan. In a free-wheeling conversation with Indiatimes, Shah gives insight about his football tricks, Kashmir's football culture, getting accolades on international platforms, among other things.
Shah Huzaib
How it started?
It all began in 2016. During Kashmir's unrest same year when terrorist Burhan Wani was killed, internet was banned and schools were shut for a long time. Children in the valley were left with no choice to kill their time hence they started taking up outdoor sports. Some of Shah's friends started playing football and that's when he got introduced to the beautiful game. He never looked back after that.
Shah Huzaib
"After practicing football for 2 years, I started watching football videos on YouTube and suddenly I came across video of Trickshots on YouTube. I really got inspired from it," he said.
Recalling a video where he saw a guy kicking footballs into baskets through tyres, Shah got intrigued so much that he also started performing trick shots and posting them on social media.
Football not the only love, even played cricket
At an early age of 7, Shah was actually a cricketer. He used to be a good bowler and batter. However, since 2016, the transition from cricket to football took place.
Eid 2018
Way back in June 24, 2018 and on the auspicious occasion of Eid, Shah started making trickshots on his phone. With no sim card and no work to do, he started making some videos of juggling on his phone after which he posted them on Instagram." When I saw that people reacted to my videos, it gave me a boost and I continued doing it," he said.
Shah Huzaib
Views, views and views
His claim to fame was when he got featured on YouTube page People are awesome. His video garnered around 5 million views. Another feather in his cap was when he got selected for India's Got Talent Season 9.
Practice makes a man perfect
Football trick shots is not something that one learns overnight. It takes months and months of practice to excel given the complexities of the tricks.
Shah Huzaib
"I used to wake up at 6 AM in the morning and practice football for hours. So now it has been 4 years and today I have good perfection at making tricks. At the beginning, it took a lot of time but after years of practice, I have started doing it with ease.
Cristiano Ronaldo fan
Shah was always inspired by Cristiano Ronaldo. "I watched his hard work through videos and now he is the world's number one football player. So he inspired me," Shah said.
AFP
Praises galore
Hard work always gets noticed and the same happened with Shah. From former India footballing legend Bhaichung Bhutia to Bollywood actor Sunil Shetty, other celebrities also shared Shah's videos on their respective social media accounts.
Amazing Trick Shots; Keep up the good work Shah! #keepgoing pic.twitter.com/zKaTWnH9Et
¡ª Bhaichung Bhutia (@bhaichung15) March 3, 2021
"It really indicates that I'm doing good work and people are taking their interest in watching my videos and sharing them. And reaching to such heights isn't easy," Shah says with a beaming sense of ease.
Government support can help me reach places
Shah is hopeful government might take notice and help him achieve more. "If they provide me facilities I can reach more heights and can help more people to learn these trickshots," he said.
Shah Huzaib
Future plans
Shah wants to make the sport popular in India. For this, he will need the support from the people in Kashmir. "I want that my trickshots reach to every individual through social media," he said.
