In this episode of the Indie Football Podcast, we explore how Step-Out is transforming the Indian football landscape with insights from their Business Expansion Lead. From navigating the challenges of the sports ecosystem and fostering innovation, we uncover what it takes to create a successful sports startup in India. Whether you're an aspiring sports professional or a football enthusiast, this episode is packed with inspiration. From transitioning from sales to leading business growth, and scaling sports events, we explore the unique challenges and opportunities in the Indian sports startup ecosystem. Our guest shares valuable insights on sales strategies from his experience, innovations in sports technology, and practical advice for aspiring sports professionals. Plus, we discuss how organizations like Step-Out can drive football development in India and tackle the challenges facing the sport. If you're passionate about football, sports business, or innovation, this episode is packed with actionable takeaways and inspiring stories!

Looking back to our journey, we’ve averaged more than 2 episodes monthly in these 3 years which honestly is pretty impressive because just the other day, we saw a statistic that said most podcasts don’t make past the 10th episode because of various reasons but here we are, entering our 4th year with something that’s very close to our heart. This podcast has given us a great identity every time we walk into a social environment. But the biggest achievement for us along the way has to be the people that we have come to know about. We’re hardly anything if we take out the different kinds of football fans who’ve crossed our paths, specially over the last 12 months. A large part of this conversation between the Co-hosts is the wonderful souls that have shaped our lives. As we look forward to what lies ahead of us in this beautiful journey of ours, we talk about the potential opportunities for writing a book, connecting further with people working in football, doing more physical projects. If you are someone who has been with us for a while, do share your top moments and episodes with us because that’s what our affable hosts have done in this episode as well.

We’re going closer to the century mark in terms of our episodes in our podcast and for the first time, we were grateful to get in conversation with a FIFA referee. Dr. Errol Sweeney is a World Cup referee, coach and mentor, psychologist and broadcaster. But this is what his LinkedIn profile would say. What we also dug deeper into the 90 minutes conversation was about his time in South Africa between 1985 to 1998. We asked questions about different referring stories, some specific incidents of referees having to undergo not so finer moments of their career. Having plied his trade across different continents, we touch base on the ever controversial issues of VAR - how technology is playing an impactful role in the growing landscape of the global sport. Before this episode, only 3 others had made it past the hour mark in terms of it’s duration. The lengths of each of those were an hour, an hour and a minute, an hour and a couple of minutes. So the fact that this one went well overboard should suggest how much we enjoyed having this conversation with the effervescent Errol Sweeney. We hope you enjoy it to an equal or greater measure.