TO all the doubters and haters, Usain Bolt’s Central Coast Mariners experiment is opening up football to a whole new audience. You must look for the positives – because there are plenty of them.

It’s impossible, you say: These haters are probably the same people who said Jarryd Hayne would not play in the NFL. Let me remind you, Jarryd never played a single high school game of gridiron and you were probably rolling out the stats that proved Hayne had no chance for the NFL. But this one-in-a-million athlete surrounded himself with the right people, learned at a rapid pace and developed the tools required to make it happen. And he proved you all wrong with his belief and desire.

Bolt is not a one-in-a-million athlete. He is a one-in-seven-billion athlete, the fastest man on the planet. And he wants to play football professionally. He’s held on to this dream for a long time and he’s willing to make sacrifices to make it happen. Unlike Hayne’s code switch, Bolt grew up playing football.

But the training’s different, you say: No question. I have worked with sprinters and world-class football players, so I understand your concerns. But this won’t scare Bolt. The secret to Jamaica’s success on the track has been hard work and dedication. It is drilled into them from a young age. I’ve been trackside at Bolt’s own camp in Kingston, Jamaica, and watched him perform 300m repetitions at a pace that, besides Yohan Blake and Warren Weir, who were running next to him, few athletes could maintain. I’ve watched him work so hard that it leaves the whole squad lying on the track in pain. His coach Glen Mills and his staff don’t coach athletes to go through the motions – they take them places no one else goes.

This mental strength will help Bolt in the team sport environment. Bolt comes from a sport where a tiny detail can be the difference between winning and losing. He will embrace any technical learning. As far as the multi-directional movements and aerobic nature of the game in comparison with sprinting in a straight line, Bolt grew up under free play, which develops healthier, stronger kids – something the modern world is lacking. He would run to school, gallop up hills and play football barefoot in the streets. This constant energy probably has given him a better base of multi-directional movement and aerobic capacity than most Australian footballers growing up in our cities today.

He is going to keep a young kid out of the squad, you say: First of all, he will take a foreign spot and not a youth spot. If he is good enough to take someone’s spot, then he is good enough. Think about the effect he would have mentoring young players in all areas physically and mentally about being a pro and performing on the big stage.

It’s a gimmick, you say: Bolt is the one taking the risk, which I respect. There would be some countries and teams he could easily join purely for publicity and probably earn a whole lot more money. Challenging himself here proves how much he wants it. He has found believers in the Mariners and no doubt he will take their brand global. That is his reach, but I would not call it a stunt.

I was with Jarryd on the plane to America on day one after the world learned of the dream he set out to achieve. I was taking calls from numerous clubs who wanted to jump on board. With no exaggeration, there would have been a dozen NFL clubs interested via email and phone calls, and some lower-tier clubs outside of the NFL willing to sign him without even seeing him. They were chasing pure publicity. Hayne instead locked himself away in a training camp before choosing a club that fought for him for the right reasons.

My advice to Usain Bolt: Go into “fight camp” mode like a boxer would before a world title fight and surround yourself with people who are willing to make sacrifices to help make it happen. You have chosen a club that develops players for the world stage, including recent World Cups. There will be plenty of people willing to give everything they can to help you, including former Manchester United coach and player Mike Phelan, who was signed by the club recently. The hype will be incredible and you know better than anyone how to handle this.

Mariners CEO Shaun Mielekamp and your management should be congratulated on what I see as being a history-making deal. It’s important you give yourself up to the team, as well as doing everything individually possible to make this a success give yourself to the team and club. This is the energy the team needs — individual brilliance but willing to be a team-first player.

My advice to the Mariners: Surround Bolt with believers and enjoy the journey by giving everything to the cause. Senior players should help him like a younger player – they must embrace him and support him in any way. Show him the value of a team who are all about helping each other right from the start.

My advice for the doubters: Why not just embrace it? As you should be telling your own kids, “anything is possible, chase your dreams”.

Hayden Knowles is head of performance at the Gold Coast Titans NRL team and director of Competitive Edge Sports. He brought Usain Bolt to Australia in 2011 for an athletic meet which included the Gatorade Bolt sprint race.