Monday morning! Sachem behind the development & the Pioneer of Football in Himachal Pradesh Mr. Deepak Sharma General Secretary HPFA has given his interview on a you tube channel.
From his early days in school Mr. Deepak Sharma had shown his proficiency in football and has been a keen sports person throughout his school days. He has played in three Sub Junior, four junior nationals and four nationals inunder 21 category. He was best athlete during his college days and has played three Inter-University matches representing Himachal Pradesh. He has also represented Himachal Pradesh four times in Santosh Trophy and has played in Durand Cup and DCM Cup.
In 1989 he obtained his Diploma in Coaching from NIS Patiala. In his coaching career spanning 27 years Mr. Deepak Sharma has trained many young talents who have later played in Nationals, but according to him,his biggest achievement is introduction of Women’s Football in Himachal Pradesh. Currently he is working as coach in Govt. Senior Secondary School, Khad in Una district of Himachal Pradesh where he is coaching the Girls Football Team of Himachal Pradesh.
In 2010, Mr. Deepak Sharma was elected as the General Secretary of Himachal Pradesh Football Association and has since been serving the post and has made many contributions to football in Himachal Pradesh. During his tenure Mr. Deepak Sharma, started AIFF D License coaching course for development of trained coaches for the young football learners. He also started the Referee license coach to promote football events and to ensure young players play association football understanding all its rules. To honor the past and present members of the football fraternity of Himachal Pradesh, Mr. Deepak Sharma, last year initiated Himachal Football Awards, an annual event for recognition of excellence in football.
His special emphasis is on the development of Women’s Football in Himachal Pradesh. It is through his consistent and continuous efforts that the Girls Junior and Sub Junior teams of Himachal Pradesh are winning accolades and making their state of Himachal proud at the National Level.
Mr. Deepak Sharma understands the importance of technology in the development of Football in Himachal. To bring all players under the ambit of Himachal Pradesh Football Association to be able to provide best chances and opportunities to the players, he launched Online Player Registration on the official website of HPFA. He is using this registration system to identify the best of the talent from Himachal to form state team. The HPFA organizes state level Under 19 tournament where only registered players of Himachal Pradesh can participate, from this tournament HPFA selects players for its State Team to participate in Santosh Trophy. These processes created by Mr. Deepak Sharma are beneficial for the players, teams and development of Football in Himachal.
He further moved ahead and created policies for local and grassroots level Clubs and Academies to be able to register with Himachal Pradesh Football Association. Through this initiative HPFA would be able to provide support and guidance to the registered clubs and academies which otherwise may not be able to reach to the best of their potential.