Sesa Football Academy (SFA) is an Indian professionalfootball club based inSanquelim,Goa.[a] Originally founded in the 1960s asSesa Sports Club,[5] it currently competes in theGoa Professional League,[b] and had previously participated in theNFL II and theI-League 2nd Division.[c] SFA is a unit of Sesa Community Development Foundation, which is promoted byVedanta Limited with the objective of service to the community in its operational areas.[d] Sesa is theacronym ofScambi Economici SA Goa, its parent mining company founded in 1954.[13]
SFA began functioning in June 1999.[14] Sesa Football Academy was the champion of theGoa First Division League in 2018–19, gaining its promotion to the Goa Professional League.
Sesa Football Academy is the successor ofSesa Sports Club, which was originally founded on 4 September 1960.[5][15] In 1988, British coachBob Bootland took charge of Sesa.[16][17] SFA was later established in 1999 with a vision of becoming a premier academy in India, producing footballers for theIndian national team from the state ofGoa.[18] The academy identifies talented youngsters with the passion for football, inducts them into the residential program at the academy, and over a period of four years nurtures and develops them as professional footballers and well-disciplined citizens.
Till date, more than 150 players have benefited from SFA's programs, out of which some have played internationally and many others have represented various prestigious clubs of the country. The team was later managed by legendary Indian coachArmando Colaco.[23][24] NigerianClifford Chukwuma also managed SESA.[18][25]
TheSanquelim campus, with 36 players, is a four-year residential program admitting 18 students every two years. It is built on the Sanquelim reclaimed mine site, with a football ground, well-established gymnasium, and a complete hostel facility along with a recreation center.
To further nurture the young talent with football training and to provide a disciplined regime, new infrastructure atSirsaim was inaugurated on 14 February 2010.[29] Constructed at an approximate cost of Rs. 4 crores, it has state of the art infrastructure at international standards. The Sirsaim academy currently has 30 trainees in its four-year residential program, with a batch of 15 trainees admitted every two years.
To guide the technical aspects of both academies,Spanish coach Eduard Batlle Basart was roped in as technical director for Sesa Football Academy in 2017.[30] He previously worked with the youth teams at European giantsManchester United andFC Barcelona.
SFA launchedVedanta Football Schools in 2012 to identify boys from nearby schools under the age of 14, and provide them non-residential football training.[32] This is in line with the larger vision of community development in the areas where Vedanta operates.
While working towards the aim of women empowerment through football, Sesa Football Academy launched the Vedanta Women's League in 2017, with the support ofGoa Football Association. The league was inaugurated by then Goa Chief MinisterManohar Parrikar in the presence of eminent women's football legends.
The Vedanta Women's League has since completed two seasons, with over 200 girls given an opportunity to play football. The winner of the 2018 edition, Panjim Footballers, went on to play in theIndian Women's League as the sole team from Goa.
Sircaim is home to one of the two Sesa Football Academy premises in Goa, the other being at Sanquelim.[33] TheSesa Football Academy Ground is located at Sircaim and use for both training and league matches.[34]
^Mergulhao, Marcus (29 June 2014)."Visitacao passes away".timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Panaji: The Times of India. TNN.Archived from the original on 30 June 2014. Retrieved28 November 2015.
Zinc Football (2018–present)[53]
