At the World Futsal Cup 2018 in Blanes, Spain in December 2018, Arzan Todywalla will be representing the New Zealand (NZ) team. (According to Wikipedia, futsal is played between two teams of five players each and is played on a hard court surface.) Earlier in the year the 17-year-old talented player was on the NZ futsal (indoor soccer) team that won the championship in Australia, notes a detailed write-up from Tehmus Mistry, president of the Zoroastrian Association of New Zealand (ZANZ).
Playing futsal for the last five years, this September he was appointed futsal coach of Bucklands Beach Intermediate School (where he earlier studied) for the 15th Anchor Aims Games International Championship in NZ where more than 10,000 students participate. Currently he is receiving elite soccer training and an opportunity to play with the top clubs of UK through the Football Fusion Academy (FFA) where he has managed to impress Paul Seaman, the chief executive officer and head coach of FFA. He was invited twice in two years (in 2014-15) to Birmingham for intense training and trials. Coach Sam Wilkinson was so impressed that he got Arzan to play for the Birmingham City Club Team which won both the games where the youngster was playing, having scored goals for the team. Former coach Jonathan Burke called Arzan a "goal machine.”
Prior to futsal, Arzan had shown promise at soccer. Recognizing his potential, his parents Pearl and Viraf had enrolled him at the Fencibles United AFC Soccer Club when he was six years old. In the first year itself he won his first trophy including the Golden Boot and the Most Valuable Player of the Year (2007) Award. Thereafter certificates, trophies, medals and prizes became a routine.
From l: Viraf, Afrin, Arzan and Pearl Todywalla
Taking to futsal at the age of 12, when he visited Australia through the Aucklands Futsal Team in 2014 he was selected as captain of the NZ team. Competing with nearly 500 other players, he was among the handful of players selected for the All Star Team title. Last year he played as Futsal Whites, representing the NZ team in the FIFA qualifiers when they won the silver medal.
A student of St Kentigern College, Arzan is constantly striving to balance academics and sports. He trains for nearly all days of the week. His parents and elder sister Afrin "adjust their lifestyle to ensure that he eats, sleeps, studies, trains and plays soccer and futsal at the appropriate time,” states Mistry. He has been playing as forward/striker or winger in soccer and as pivot in futsal.
But more than prizes Arzan needs monetary support to pay for his international training as the NZ Football junior teams do not get much financial assistance from the government. Perforce the players have to raise funds themselves to pay for overseas training. ZANZ is "assisting the Todywalla family to get the word out so that they get donations,” writes Mistry. Viraf’s email is
viraf4u@yahoo.co.nz