SRINAGAR — Son of the soil, Harvinder Singh from Jammu created history by being appointed as the coach of the Indian senior men’s Softball team.
He is the first person from Jammu & Kashmir Union Territory who has been appointed as the coach in the Olympic sport of Softball. Harvinder Singh, a former outstanding Softball player & NIS-certified Softball coach from Jammu and Kashmir, has been in this field since 1995 and he previously coached many Softball clubs and J&K Softball teams.
Harvinder is the youngest son of Gurbhajan Singh and Narinder Kour, who passed Class 10th from Gajrati Niketan High School, Kachi Chawni, Jammu; Class 12th from Luthra Academy, Jammu and Graduated from Punjab Technical University, Jammu in 2005.
He did Diploma in Sports Coaching (Softball) from NS NIS from Southern Centre Bangalore and emerged as the topper of the batch in the year 2006. He did Bachelors in Physical Education from the University of Jammu in 2009-10.
On the basis of his outstanding sports career in Softball sport, Harvinder was appointed as Physical Education Teacher through then SRO-376 (Appointment of Outstanding Sports Persons) in J&K Youth Services & Sports Department in the year 2014.
Harvinder started his career as a Softball player at the local level from 4th standard and won many medals at District, State & National Level.
Uncle of Harvinder Singh, Avtar Singh, a former national-level Skier inspired him to choose Softball as his career. Harvinder also recalled the contribution of his coach Harkesh Singh, J&K Softball Association and J&K Sports Council in his success.
Resident of Model Town, Gangyal area of Jammu district, Harvinder coached many clubs in Jammu and Kashmir. Under his coaching, many teams won laurels at Club, District & State level. He previously coached Jammu and Kashmir state team, and presently he is playing an important role in the promotion of Softball sport in UT of Jammu & Kashmir. He has been imparting coaching since 2006. He was also the captain of the J&K Softball team.
Harvinder has been appointed as coach of Indian National Softball (Men) team which is going to participate in Asia Cup (Men) Senior Softball Championship at Kochi, Japan from June 25 to June 28, 2023, being organized by Japan Softball Association & Softball Confederation of Asia.
“Harvinder’s appointment as coach of the national team will definitely boost the morale of Jammu & Kashmir Softball players,” said Waseem Raja Khan, General Secretary, J&K Softball Association. He said that Softball is growing fast in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir due to the facilities being provided by the J&K Sports Council, under the dynamic leadership of its Secretary, Ms Nuzhat Gul.
The Indian national senior men’s softball team is departing from New Delhi for Japan on June 23, 2023 under the banner of Softball Association of India.
