Mudassir Ahmad
Srinagar Nov 16: Hundreds of miles away from his home, Shiva Kumar has been coaching Real Kashmir Football Club (RKFC) team for the last two months. Amid the cold weather, he wakes up early in the morning and starts training players along with head coach Meraj Uddin Wadoo and goalkeeper coach Harshad Deepak Meher at Synthetic Turf TRC Srinagar aiming to remain top in Hero Honda I-League 2022-2023.
Shiva Kumar, who is RKFC’s assistant coach, believes that players are ready to play attacking football and give their 100 percent effort.
“We have a good team this season which also comprises some foreigners. The technical support is also good. The team management is very supportive. Everyone is working hard and hopefully this season remains good for us,” he said, who hails from Karnataka and has coaching experience of around 15-years.
He said joining RKFC is special for him. “I have got attached to this place. I don’t feel like missing my family. Here we work as a family and enjoy spending more time on the ground,” he said.
He said fans will also get an opportunity to watch the RKFC team playing good football in Srinagar. “Better team will always win. Our players are well prepared and play good football. There is more challenge and competition this season as the winner will also qualify to play in the ISL,” he said.
He has coached Suderva FC’s I-League team, besides coaching Karnataka senior women’s national team. Under his coaching, Karnataka won the Khelo India Championship in 2019 after 13 years. Besides, he has also trained under-15 Andhra Pradesh National Football Team and also provided coaching for various clubs in Karnataka Super Division League.
After winning the first match of Hero Honda I-League 2022-2023 against Neroca FC in Imphal, the morale of RKFC is high. The team is scheduled to play its first match on home ground at Synthetic Turf TRC Srinagar against Rajasthan United on November 19. The fans are excited to watch the match here.
