Mysuru: An Electronics and Communication Engineering graduate, who had a lucrative job in an IT firm, resigned the job after working for four years to train budding football players in Mysuru.
DV Praveen Raju, 28, has cleared the Asian Football Confederation ‘C’ licensed coaching exam, which only few manage to clear. Twenty four participants from across the country, including national level players as well as Indian Super League (ISL) players took part in the coaching exam, among which only eight including Praveen were selected.
“Since my childhood days I was very much interested in football. I got inspiration after watching the English Premier League on television and started to take up the game more seriously. I cleared the All India Football Federation D licence examination on August 2018, and a few days back I also completed my C Licence exam organised by AIFF and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in KSFA Stadium, Bengaluru. Recently I was also selected for “Premier Skills” workshop conducted by British council and Premier league England for Coaches in Goa. I have played in the Super Division League of Karnataka from 2010 to 2012 and represented Mysuru in many State level tournaments. At present I am with Vijayanagar Football academy as a Coach and training more than 60 budding football players which includes six girls” said Praveen.
“My aim is to become the coach of Indian football team and produce some good football players for my country,” added Praveen.
Praveen is confident of completing ‘A’ license exam in another three to four years, and with that and a couple of years of experience as assistant coach he will be eligible to become the coach for Indian football team.
“Our grassroots players are really doing good. In another five to ten years our national team will really do good and bring more laurels” said Praveen, who during his free time visits government schools especially in rural areas and imparts free football skills.
Praveen had visited Ekalavya Tribal School in HD Kote a couple of days back and gave the students free football and 30 pairs of shoes free of cost.
