Sesa Goa’s ‘Vedanta Football Championship 2023’ Draws Overwhelming Participation from 330+ Bicholim Youth
Goa, August 6, 2023: After an exhilarating display of talent and sportsmanship, the 7-a-side ‘Vedanta Football Championship 2023,’ organized by Sesa Goa’s flagship CSR initiative, Sesa Football Academy (SFA) concluded in a scintillating finish at Bicholim with Amravati SC Amona being crowned Champions and Kelambika FC Mayem as Runners-up among 28 evenly matched teams. The most promising player award was conferred to Mitilesh Fadte, Amravati Sports Club; Top Goal Scorer- Laxmanrao Rane, Khetoba Mayem; Best Goalkeeper- Gauresh Popkar, Kalambika A; Best Player of the Finals- Pratik Bhagat, Amravati Sports Club and Player of the Tournament- Rajat Naik, Kelambika A.
Champions and runners up were awarded with prize money of Rs. 40,000 & Rs. 30,000 respectively along with trophies. The two semi- finalists were also awarded with prize money of Rs. 10,000 each. This championship marked a significant milestone in SFA’s mission to identify, nurture, and groom young footballing talents in the country while promoting sports excellence in Goa. The event witnessed the enthusiastic participation of over 330 young footballers from the Bicholim Taluka and provided an exceptional avenue for the budding footballers of Bicholim Taluka to unleash their potential.
Witnessing the passion and determination of the youth, Mr. Navin Jaju, CEO, Vedanta Sesa Goa, said “I am happy to see the positive impact that our initiative of organizing the Vedanta Football Championship 2023 has created on the youth of Bicholim as it embodies our commitment to provide an avenue to them, to not only showcase their talent but also improve their mental and physical wellbeing. Thereby, through sports, we aim to create better citizens who will contribute meaningfully to their communities and society at large.”
Vedanta Football Championship 2023 prize distribution ceremony was graced by Mr. Brahmanad Sankhwalkar (Padma Shri, Arjuna Awardee and former captain of India Football Team) as Chief Guest, Mr. Kundan Falari, Chairperson of Bicholim Municipal Council as Guest of honor along with Mr. Shankar Falari, Alumni of Sesa Football Academy, who congratulated all the participants for their exceptional performance and devotion throughout the championship and praised Vedanta Sesa Goa’s contribution to the growth of sports excellence in Bicholim and Goa overall. They also emphasized on the importance of such initiatives in nurturing young talent and fostering a culture of sports in Bicholim. Executives from Vedanta Sesa Goa were also present including Dhirajkumar Jagdish, Dy. CEO- IOG, Santosh Mandrekar, Head-North & Central Cluster-IOG and Leena Verenkar, Head ESG, Charles Dias, Head Coach, SFA among others.
The successful completion of the Vedanta Football Championship 2023 signifies another step forward in the mission towards nurturing the football talent that lies within the youth. Vedanta remains committed to promoting the growth of sports and supporting the aspirations of young athletes across India. Vedanta Sesa Goa has been organizing such football pop up camps across various locations of Bicholim Taluka to encourage its youth to participate and showcase their footballing talent and grow into responsible citizens who are capable of overcoming challenges with resilience and determination.
Vedanta Sesa Goa has a long-standing commitment to promoting and furthering football in India football through the Sesa Football Academy, which has been successfully groomed over 180+ alumni professional footballers through its residential training programs. Many alumni of the Sesa Football Academy have made their mark on prestigious football platforms across national and international level. Additionally, Vedanta Women’s League, developed in collaboration with GFA, has provided a professional footballing platform for over 250 aspiring women footballers across its six successful editions.
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.