Founder of Alliance Football Club Dubai
Mehran has always had a deep interest in making things better; even at the age of 10, he was into developing things, nurturing them and seeing them grow. His passion projects in his adolescence included growing plants or creating small structures, such as a pond or a wall, inside his family’s villa.
Fast-forward to when he became a coach who interacts with youth every day, Mehran instantly felt destined to become a mentor too! As a leader in youth football coaching, Mehran quickly identified the power that football can have in educating and guiding young minds towards a fruitful life path off the pitch, too.
Beyond teaching kids how to kick a ball, Mehran and his team employ strategies that arm students with the right tools to tackle life’s many trials from a young age. It is with a competitive and fighting spirit that Mehran takes on the role of mentor, inspiring and cultivating young talents to grow into their own characters and personalities equipped with the effective and elegant prowess for making decisions and solving problems.
It is clear to see why many refer to Mehran as a forward-thinking, innovative coach with the resilience and patience to understand and guide every young athlete as an individual; his teachings go far beyond the game that is played in stadiums all around the world. From the beginning, football has allowed Mehran to positively impact young people’s lives through many character-building and work-ethic-forming regimens and training programmes. His pride and joy in seeing how young boys and girls develop their character over time is the most beautiful and rewarding feeling for Mehran.
CREDIBILITY
Founder of Alliance Football Club
With more than two decades of experience and a slew of certified accreditations and qualifications to his name, Mehran is an expert in football and sports psychology, coaching and working with children, the scientific approach of braining (Brain Training), match analysis, youth mentorship, and more. He is renowned for using an assortment of solution-driven techniques to help his mentees to build their on-field IQ, and to achieve their goals within the club, and outside of it too.
Mehran is also a qualified advocate and consultant on a number of related aspects including nutrition, psychology, life coaching, mentorship, and the ability to provide young players the opportunity to experience life skills alongside nurturing their game. To date, he has successfully created over 300 drills and programmes that have helped form the gameplay and strategy of thousands of football players in Dubai, the Middle East, and beyond. Mehran believes in expressive developmental methods, which allow raw talents to grow into exceptional and eloquent footballers and members of society.
In addition, Mehran’s interpersonal training and qualifications has led to him providing 1-2-1 services to educate and teach other coaches, and furthermore, to take his methods into helping large-scale corporate companies and government institutions. Mehran continues to provide guidance for elite personnel in various sectors, drawing on ideas and abilities to help improve and guide people towards a more fulfilling role and trailblazing outlook.
Mehran’s career in sports coaching and his advanced expertise have been reported in a number of media publications including New York Weekly, Sports360, FACT Middle East, Yahoo Lifestyle, Gulf Youth Sports, Kivo Daily, the New York Wire and other notable platforms.
In addition to his coaching career, Mehran is the visionary behind Mehran's Dinosaurs, a sports merchandise brand known for its high-quality products and innovative designs. The brand reflects Mehran's commitment to excellence and his passion for providing athletes with the best tools to excel in their sport. Mehran's Dinosaurs continues to make waves in the sports industry, further solidifying Mehran's position as a leading figure in sports and mentorship.
FOOTBALL LEGACY TO YOUTH COACHING
With a long-standing legacy in football, Mehran was born into a sporting family in Tehran; his grandfather was one of the founding members of TaJ, which to this day remains one of the biggest football clubs in Asia. Mehran's uncle, Hassan Rowshan, is a national sporting hero who won the Asian cup three times in the 70s, and is the only player who has scored for Iran in the Asian Cup, World Cup and the Olympics.
Naturally, Mehran’s love of football was sparked from a young age; he was destined to be involved in the game. His football career as a player was halted due to a severe knee injury at a young age. But he remained determined to be a part of the football in a way that was both skillful and rewarding.
Prior to pursuing professional youth coaching and mentorship, Mehran graduated with a degree in Economics and Management. His background in economics and management meant that Mehran adopted a problem-solving approach from very early on in his profession, nurturing his core beliefs of how to best and efficiently help young players become proactive decision-makers in sports. and in life. Later, his training and career spanned from England, to Spain, Portugal, The Netherlands, and ultimately to Dubai, UAE, where, in 2009, he became a founding coach of the Arsenal Soccer School Dubai.
In 2015, Mehran’s passion for going above and beyond just football, led him to create Alliance Football Club, which has grown to become the city’s most-recognised sporting establishment and community. Mehran soon realised that his true passion was to help the players that came through the doors at Alliance to become their best selves; to aid and guide them to become hands-on thinkers, problem-solvers and decision makers.
Being the Director and Head Coach at Dubai’s most innovative football club allows Mehran to put into practice the unique training methods, ethically-driven initiatives, and important building blocks for the future generation of movers and shakers.
THE SAMURAI MINDSET
“Both in fighting and in everyday life you should be determined though calm. Meet the situation without tenseness yet not recklessly, your spirit settled yet unbiased.”
— Adachi Masahiro
Research shows that training hard whilst being aware of the worst possible outcome, are two powerful techniques for promoting calm. Samurais trained relentlessly. They strongly believed you should always “be prepared” – why? Preparation reduces fear, so when things get tense, you don’t have to think but instead, you’re training both physically and mentally will have prepared you to act intuitively. After all, samurais survived catastrophic scenarios like battles and wars. Their secret? Being prepared.
Mehran personifies a combination of competitive and calm, largely influenced by the way of the samurai. Whilst the world came to a halt amidst the global pandemic, Mehran fought his way through lockdown life and the “new normal” by revamping and refining his coaching methods – opting for a more scientific approach. His aim is to help build a pathway and encourage meaningful character advancement for the youth, both on and off the pitch. Now, as Alliance FC has welcomed back young players into a safe and welcoming environment, Mehran has introduced a more sharpened version of football coaching that looks to exponentially grow its efforts in training the future of both footballs and society’s next generation.
Alliance FC players are not only given the practical and physical skills of the beautiful game, they are also encouraged to harness calm, and rational decision-making, and to face all situations with a problem-solving outlook. It’s no wonder that Alliance FC has fast-become one of the most progressive youth organisations in the Middle East.
In the future, Mehran hopes for Alliance FC to continue coaching that blends education and life skills. He is also hoping to spearhead courses on mental health, decision-making, brain training, and more. He recognises that there are no structured education pathways for youth mentorship. Everything has to be self-driven. As a result, Mehran interacts with other coaches around the world and is currently the founding member of a private coaching network with some of the world's top life coaches.
Professional qualifications, credentials and training:
Football Psychology; The F.A. England
Planning, Preparing and Evaluation Coaching; The F.A. England
Coaching Children; The F.A. England
UEFA “B” Coaching License; The F.A. England
Soccer Camp Coach Course; The F.A. England
International Coaching License; The F.A. England
Player and Match Analysis; The F.A. England
Coaching Mentorship; Holland
Brain Training; Portugal
Health & Nutrition, Stanford
Health & Safety Level 3 UK
Child Safeguarding
Bachelor of Economics & Business Administration
Experience and Milestones:
Coach; Aston Villa, 2006-2007
Worked with the academy players
Coach; Arsenal Soccer School, Dubai, 2009-2015
One of the founding coaches
5000+ players coached
Players with different backgrounds, capabilities & goals.
Founder: Alliance Football Club, Dubai, 2015
Middle East’s first eco-friendly club
10,000 hours coached
More than 15 years of coaching boys & girls
Founder: Girls Football Club, Dubai, 2019
Empowering girls & women through football
Youth Mentorship
Designed a life coaching programme for teens
NOT YOUR AVERAGE COACH
Not your average text-book coach. Years of non-stop coaching has helped Mehran to develop a unique mentorship approach.
Mehran has mentored hundreds of teenagers; some of whom are now business owners, teachers and coaches themselves.
AHEAD OF THE GAME
Mehran also regularly attends professional training, and personal development workshops, seminars and lectures, continuously building on his expertise and staying at the forefront of new advances within the field of youth mentoring.
LEARNING NEVER STOPS
Mehran understands that a competent mentor does what is right for the mentee instead of doing what the parent or guardian expects. Despite his expertise, Mehran sees himself as a life-long student.
A MORAL RESPONSIBILITY
Mehran is very open about his purpose and it is not the money. Though professional youth mentoring and life coaching is a lucrative field, Mehran sees it as a moral and ethical responsibility to mentor the youth who cross his path.
HIGHLY TRAINED
Mehran has spent more than two decades working with children and young adults as well as elite professionals. He has undergone extensive training and years of coaching, with certified courses, workshops, and seminars, all of which makes him highly effective.
TRUSTED BY PEERS AND PARENTS
Mehran is one of few qualified coaches offering 1-2-1 tailored coaching to both children and adults in the UAW. Trusted by the wider community including families of the hundreds of football players he is responsible for at Alliance FC, he is ethical and reliable.
ASK FOR MEHRAN’S ADVICE
Mehran makes coaching accessible. Though he is not currently taking on any new mentees, he encourages parents and guardians to reach out to him for any advice and guidance.