Sesa Football Academy Trial Footfall Sees Uptick After Stellar 2023-24 Season
Following an extraordinary 2023-24 football season, which witnessed the Sesa Football Academy (SFA) achieve significant milestones, the academy is now gearing up for an even more ambitious 2024-25 season. SFA, the flagship CSR initiative of Vedanta Sesa Goa continues to affirm its status as a premier institution for nurturing football talent in India.
With a distinctly Goan identity, SFA remains steadfast in its commitment to realizing the full potential of Goan football. The academy is dedicated to creating new opportunities for aspiring footballers from the state, with a clear focus on benefiting as many local boys and girls as possible.
In anticipation of the upcoming season, SFA’s focus has been on building upon its strengths as well as in plugging the gaps. The support staff at SFA has has meticulously assembled core teams that have been scouting for talent. These efforts are designed not only to maintain but also to elevate the academy’s standing, ensuring even greater success in the season ahead.
As part of the process, the trials for the new intake of footballers at SFA were conducted over a period of a month and a half, attracting more than 500 aspiring players from across Goa and beyond. These trials offered young talents the chance to earn a coveted place in one of SFA’s prestigious teams, which include the Senior Men’s Team, U-19 Team, U-15 Team, and U-13 Team. The fierce competition during the trials augurs well for SFA and is also indicative of the interest generated due to SFA’ break out season and the promotion to I-League 3. The footfall witnessed an uptick of 7-10% from the previous years.
Speaking about the upcoming season, Charles Dias, Head Coach at SFA, remarked, “We are thrilled with the level of talent we’ve seen during this year’s trials. The passion and dedication displayed by these young footballers are truly inspiring. As we prepare for the 2024-25 season, our focus is on honing their skills and building a cohesive team that can uphold SFA’s proud tradition of excellence.”
In the 2023-24 season , the SFA Senior Men’s Team in the Goa Pro League 2023-24 Top Tier, secured its maiden runners-up finish and also a coveted spot in the I-League 3, which is scheduled to commence in September 2024. Key players from the SFA Senior Men’s Team also played a crucial role in the Goa State Team’s journey to a runner-up finish at the Santosh Trophy earlier this year. Additionally, the U-19 Team emerged as runners-up in the GFA U-19 Division I-League 2023-24, while the U-15 and U-17 teams both secured third positions in their respective divisions of the GFA U-15 and U-17 Division I-Leagues.
The new selections made this season are expected to build on these accomplishments and help the academy achieve even greater success in the upcoming season. With a refreshed roster that includes a new goalkeeper, two defenders, three strikers, and four midfielders for the Senior Men’s Team, along with the formation of a new U-15 team, SFA is poised to continue its upward trajectory. These meticulously assembled teams reflect SFA’s unwavering commitment to nurturing football talent and providing young athletes with the optimal environment to develop their potential.
Gavin Araujo, Technical Director,SFA, commented, “The 2023-24 season set a high standard for us, and we are fully committed to surpassing it in the upcoming season, especially with the I-League 3 just around the corner. Our aim is to continue providing top-tier training and opportunities for our players, helping them grow both on and off the field. We look forward to seeing the new teams in action and are confident that they will make us proud.”
As Sesa Football Academy gears up for the 2024-25 season, it remains dedicated to its mission of fostering football talent at the grassroots level and contributing to the development of the sport in Goa and beyond. Sesa Football Academy, since 1999, is contributing to community development through SFA by opening newer avenues for the youth through Football, while also ensuring their socio-economic development. So far, it has produced 183+ graduates and 11 have played for the Indian Football team with 10-15 represented various ISL clubs. It is one of the only few residential academies in the state and among the top corporate football academies in India, providing in-house Gym, Canteen, Recreation Room, TV Room, Full Size Natural Pitch, Tutors for Tuitions, Best-In Class Training, and Insurance Cover. It has promoted football among women & girls through the set-up of the football centres at Amona and Bicholim. It has been successfully collaborating with the Goa Football Association to organise the Vedanta Women’s League (VWL) over the last 7 seasons.
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.