Follow your dreams
Dream Like Me, as the title suggests, is a book that encourages children and young people to follow their dreams. However, Author Manisha Tailor wanted the book, which is subtitled South Asian Football Trailblazers to do more. Here she talks to Pen&inc. about how the life stories in the book help to teach children how to overcome challenges in all walks of life.
Illustration of Lucindha Lhathini Lawson.
FOOTBALL has always been a big part of Manisha Tailor’s life – from playing with family and friends at school to coaching students at the schools she taught in. Now she has swapped teaching for a career in professional football – she is now Assistant Head of Coaching at Championship side QPR. As a woman of South Asian heritage, she is the epitome of a trailblazer – the first women to hold such a senior position and also one of a very few people with a South Asian background. She says: “I didn’t think of myself as a trailblazer – I recognised that what I was doing was important, but I did not realise how important it was. Now I do recognise the significance of being a pioneer and being the first within this type of role, and because of that Dream Like Me: South Asian Football Trailblazers is very important to me.”
So how did she go from kicking a ball around with friends to a senior coaching role with a top professional team? There is a mix of determination, desire, personal circumstance, contacts, experience, support and above all a love
Spring-Summer 2023
for what she does. Growing up she played in her local primary team, but like many girls with a love for football, there was no clear pathway once she moved to secondary school. Things have changed now, but when Manisha was growing up very few schools had girls’ teams and once you hit a certain age mixed football came to an end.
There was an opportunity to continue playing at her local women’s centre of excellence, but Manisha says: “I grew up playing football with my brother – we were a very sporty family. I played for my school team and my best friend Jenna played for Barnet’s centre of excellence team. They were holding trials and I went along and got in. When I told my mum, although she was really happy, one of the things that was on her mind was that she didn’t see many girls like me playing football. Those role models weren’t there for me. When I went to secondary school, we weren’t allowed to play mixed football and there was no girls’ team. So, I realised that football probably wasn’t going to be a career for me. I played recreationally in the park and at playtimes, but not in a team. I started
again in my late 20s when I joined a Sunday League team – of course things in your life are very different at that age, with work and other things in your life.” Dream Like Me, features dozens of people with South Asian heritage who have all had experience of working within the football profession. From professional players and freestylers to medical staff, reporters, referees and of course coaches – the book highlights many different opportunities in the game, and each story reveals the challenges and inspiration behind those successes.
Manisha’s own story is also included in the book, and she talks about how a life-changing event for her brother sparked her desire to pursue her dream of a career in football. She explains how her twin brother suffered a severe mental health breakdown because of bullying at school. That led to ongoing needs, and Manisha took on some of the caring responsibility for her brother at a young age.
She says that although her brother communicates differently now, and requires a high level of support, he
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