Where New York Is Nurturing Bangladesh’s Footballers of Tomorrow

On a quiet afternoon in Brooklyn, the football fields at Parade Ground are anything but quiet.

Across the sprawling complex, boys and girls of different ages are spread across the pitches, training under different coaches, working on their skills and competing in practice games. For a moment, the scene could easily be mistaken for Mumbai’s iconic Shivaji Park—or even Dhaka’s Abahani field.

But this is New York. And this is where a small Bangladeshi football club is quietly trying to build something much bigger than a team.

It was Sharif Ahmed, a Bangladeshi expatriate in the United States and the father of Bangladesh national team footballer Zayan Ahmed, who first told me about AYSAB FC. During the FIFA World Cup in the United States, he suggested that I take some time to visit the New York-based club, which was founded by members of the Bangladeshi community.

So, after the whirlwind of the World Cup had settled, I made my way to Parade Ground in Brooklyn on a pleasant afternoon.

At the field, I was greeted by Mohammed S. Islam Arif, the founder of AYSAB FC.

What began in 2009 as a modest initiative has, over the past 17 years, grown into a structured football platform for Bangladeshi players of different age groups from New York, New Jersey and neighboring states.

The ambition is bigger than simply putting together football teams.?

AYSAB FC wants to connect the Bangladeshi community with the mainstream American football ecosystem while creating a pathway for young players who dream of taking the game to a higher level.

The club competes in high-level competitions, including the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL), giving ambitious players exposure to a more competitive environment and, potentially, a route toward professional football.

At the same time, AYSAB FC continues to take part in local community tournaments and leagues, maintaining a strong connection with the cultural roots of the community it represents.

That balance—between ambition and identity—is central to the club’s philosophy.

More than just football

Perhaps the most striking aspect of AYSAB FC is that its mission extends well beyond the football pitch.

Run largely by volunteers, the club offers free or low-cost training so that financial limitations do not prevent talented youngsters from playing the game.

For Arif and his fellow organizers, football is also a means of mentorship.

They want young people to spend their time on something positive and constructive, away from excessive dependence on digital devices and other negative influences. At the same time, they hope to identify and nurture players who might one day follow in the footsteps of Zayan and represent Bangladesh at the international level.

“Here, Zayan played, and his father Sharif bhai has been closely associated with us,” Arif told Ajker Patrika. “Several of our players are currently attending trials with the ambition of pursuing professional football.”

“We are also focused on competing in tournaments and leagues with players who have grown up here. Many of the players in our senior team have been with the club for more than a decade.”

For Arif, however, success cannot simply be measured by how many players eventually become professionals.

“We are trying to create a platform for talented footballers from the Bangladeshi community so they have the opportunity to develop,” he said. “Of course, not everyone will become a great footballer.”

“But another important objective is to keep children away from excessive dependence on devices and other negative activities. We want them to grow up in a healthy and positive environment, even though they are far from their homeland.”

A five-hour drive for football

For Sharif Ahmed, AYSAB FC is more than just a club. It is also a bridge back to a game he had once stepped away from.

To play for the team, he regularly makes the nearly five-hour drive from Virginia to New York.

“Arif bhai and the others are doing a tremendous job with the club,” Sharif said. “I had taken a long break from football. It was their invitation that brought me back to the game.”

His journey reflects the sense of community that surrounds AYSAB FC. For many involved, football is not merely about competition. It is a way of staying connected—with one another, with their culture and with a sport that has followed them across continents.

The next Zayan?

AYSAB FC is not only developing footballers. The club is also helping young people emerge as referees, creating opportunities around the game beyond playing.

Arif spoke proudly of several talented players who have come through the Bangladeshi community. Among them is Ataul Ahmed, a young player whose ambitions extend all the way to the Bangladesh national team.

“There are more than a hundred children here, and they all train regularly,” Ataul said, his eyes full of hope. “I am now with the senior team.”

“Many Bangladeshi families are sending their children here. I dream of developing myself as a footballer and, one day, playing for the Bangladesh national team like Zayan bhai.”

That dream may sound ambitious. But dreams are often where football stories begin.

For the children running across the pitches at Parade Ground, Bangladesh may be thousands of miles away. Yet through a football club built by their own community, the country remains remarkably close.

And somewhere among those young players, training under the New York sky, may be the next footballer who will one day pull on Bangladesh’s red and green jersey.