SFA facilitates youth engagement with legendary footballers on 75th Independence Day
- Nicholas Pereira, Ex-Indian National team defender and Mr. Brahmanand Sankhwalkar, Arjuna awardee & Former Indian team captain, interacted with the aspiring youth from communities.
- Both legendary players hoisted Indian National Flag at SFA – Sirsaim and witnessed a friendly football match between SFA coaches and Sirsaim Sports & Welfare Centre.
Sirsaim, Goa: Sesa Football Academy (SFA) commemorated the occasion of 75th Independence Day with National flag hoisting at the academy campus followed by various engagement activities for the academy players, Coaches and youth from local community. Mr. Nicholas Pereira, Ex-Indian National team defender and Mr. Brahmanand Sankhwalkar, Arjuna awardee & Former Indian team captain graced the Independence Day celebrations at SFA including interactive session with SFA players, coaches, support staff and football enthusiasts from local community. A friendly 8-A- side football match was organized between SFA coaches/ support staff team and Sirsaim sports & welfare Centre team at SFA Sirsaim Football ground.
All participants from communities around, appreciated SFA for organizing highly enriching program which provided them opportunity to interact and play with legendary footballers like Mr. Brahmanand Sankhwalkar and Nicholas Pereira. SFA coaches/ support staff team edge past 5-3 against Sirsaim sports & welfare Centre in a friendly match.
Speaking about the initiative Mr. Annanya Agarwal, President- Vedanta Sports said “On this historic occasion of 75th year of Indian independence, I salute our great freedom fighters and brave soldiers for their selfless sacrifices for the nation. At Vedanta Sports, we believe that Indian youth has massive potential in sports. Our aim is to nurture their talent at grassroots level, and empower them to lead the success journey of Indian sports & bring prestigious laurels for the nation.”
Speaking on the occasion Arjuna Awardee Mr. Brahmanand Sankhwalkar, Chairman GFDC and Former Indian Team captain appreciated SFA for organizing such a well-structured program and said “I appreciate SFA for organizing such enriching engagement session with the youth from community around. It is great to interact and play with young enthusiastic footballers. I applaud Vedanta’s SFA for driving the football development program in the state for more than 2 decades, which has contributed immensely to Indian football.”
Sesa Football Academy has a rich legacy of over 21 years in development of Football. Over 200+ footballers are groomed through SFA residential academies in Goa and are shining at prestigious footballing platforms across the country. Vedanta also launched Vedanta Women’s Football League in collaboration with Goa Football Association which is gaining huge popularity. Recently 4th Edition of Vedanta Women’s League concluded successfully, wherein few talented women footballers from all editions of the league are shining at prestigious football platforms.
About Vedanta Cares
Vedanta is committed to reinvest in the social good of its neighbourhood communities and the nation. The Group’s flagship CSR project, Nand Ghar, is a network of model anganwadis where the thrust is on inclusive development of women and children at the grassroots level. The Group CSR initiative comprises of seven key verticals – Education, Healthcare, Water and Sanitation, Sustainable Livelihood, Skilling, Sports & Culture and Employee Volunteering. Vedanta Foundation, a philanthropic initiative of Vedanta Group is focused on skill development and vocational training programmes for the underprivileged to make them employable. A key healthcare speciality CSR project is the Balco Medical Center, a 200-bed state-of-the-art Cancer care hospital located in New Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The company supports grassroots level sports through their Football academies in Goa and Udaipur.
About Vedanta Limited
Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, is one of the world’s leading Oil & Gas and Metals company with significant operations in Oil & Gas, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Copper, Iron Ore, Steel, and Aluminium & Power across India, South Africa, Namibia, and Australia. For two decades, Vedanta has been contributing to India’s growth story, currently contributing 1 percent of India’s GDP. The company is among the top private sector contributors to the exchequer with the highest ever contribution of INR 42,560 Crore in FY 2019. Governance and sustainable development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety, and environment and on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company has been conferred the CII-ITC Sustainability Award, the FICCI CSR Award, Dun & Bradstreet Awards in Metals & Mining, and certified as a Great Place to Work. Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange in India and has ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
About SESA Football Academy
An initiative of SESA Community Development Foundation (SCDF), SESA Football Academy (SFA) was founded in 1999 for the holistic development of the local youths through football. The academy has created the conditions for discovering, creating and building talent for football. SFA does not restrict itself to football trainings but involves in a long term residential program which takes care of the formal education, skill development of the trainees during the four-year training period.
The academy has a strong focus on women empowerment through football. Since inception, SFA has trained around 200 footballers and has made tremendous impact on the football fraternity in Goa as well as across India. The graduates from SFA are serving in the national teams, Indian Super League (ISL), I-League clubs of India and clubs in Goa. 7 players have earned the national team cap and several players played the elite ISL.