Sesa Football Academy Wins Top Honors at GFA Awards Ceremony
Sesa Football Academy (SFA) bagged top accolades for its continued endeavours for promoting Goan football talent. The Academy’s efforts during the 2024-25 season were recognised at the Goa Football Association’s Awards Night. The event, which celebrates the achievements of GFA-registered clubs, was graced by the distinguished presence of Chief Guest-Dr. Pramod Sawant, Hon’ble CM of Goa, Guest of Honour Shri Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, MLA for Curtorim Constituency, Dr. Caitano Fernandes, President – GFA and other GFA officials.
SFA was in the spotlight at the awards ceremony for clinching multiple top honours and its efforts received words of encouragement from Dr Pramod Sawant, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Goa, “Heartiest congratulations to Sesa Football Academy for their remarkable qualification to I-League 3 and Indian Women’s League 2. I also commend Vedanta for its continued efforts in nurturing grassroots football and creating pathways for young athletes to shine at the national level. Such initiatives play a vital role in strengthening Goa’s legacy as the football capital of India.”
At the awards ceremony, the SFA Women’s Team were felicitated for their standout performances in winning the Vedanta Women’s League 2024–25,Goa’s premier tournament for women’s football & for earning a spot in the prestigious Indian Women’s League 2.SFA’s developmental program received a boost when the SFA U-19 boys’ team was recognised for their ‘runner-up’ finish at the GFA U-19 Division I League, and the Academy also being recognised with the ‘Special Achievement Award for Overall Excellence in Football Management’. SFA also received the ‘Organiser Award’ for outstanding venue management during the 2024-25 season.
Individual excellence of SFA players and support staff took centre stage with Pearl Fernandes of the SFA Women’s Team receiving the prestigious ‘Women’s Player of the Year’ Award, while Coach Severino Fernandes shared the ‘Coach of the Year’ honours along with Mr. Gavin Araujo, Technical Director SFA & five SFA players being honoured for their pivotal role in steering the Goa State Team to a Runner-Up finish at the Khelo India Beach Soccer (Mens) tournament.
Expressing his sentiments, Mr. Navin Jaju, CEO – Vedanta Sesa Goa, said, “SFA continues to be a trailblazer in setting newer benchmarks in support of Goan and Indian football. The recognition received at the ‘GFA Awards Night’ spotlight the professionalism & dedication of the players and support staff and also underscore the robust processes being followed at the Academy. I congratulate SFA on the singular accomplishments and wish the Academy the very best in their quest to bring glory to Indian football.”
Dr. Caitano Fernandes, President – Goa Football Association, also congratulated SFA and said “Sesa Football Academy has been a strong pillar of Goan football for over two decades. Their consistent performances, both at the men’s and women’s levels, are helping shape the future of the sport in the state. SFA’s structured approach to talent development is commendable and plays a key role in strengthening Goa’s football ecosystem.”
SFA has been consistent in nurturing footballing aspirations and has supported the youth through persistent development of facilities, infrastructure and capacities, with 8000+ youth having benefitted from various initiatives over the years, with 12 SFA alumni having represented India internationally in the men’s and women’s segments & several others having represented top tier clubs at the ISL. Having supported the rejuvenation of women’s football in Goa, SFA has been instrumental in cumulatively providing a platform to 1400+ women footballers by hosting the Vedanta Women’s League since 2017.
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.