JFC in collaboration with Apollo Tyres has conferred the Go the Distance Hero award on Tata Steel Foundation for its commitment towards empowering the youth through grassroots football across the company’s operational locations in Jharkhand and Odisha.
The award was handed over by Tata Steel vice-president (corporate services) Chanakya Chaudhary to company’s chief of corporate social responsibility Sourav Roy at the start of JFC and FC Goa match at JRD Tata Sports Complex on Wednesday evening.
Initiated in 2012, Tata Steel Foundation’s football programme focuses on addressing the professional aspirations of youth and unlocking their potential towards soccer. What began with three centres, today it has risen to 43 football rural coaching units, imparting training to 3,555 boys and girls. Through its many tournaments, the foundation also reaches out to 36,000 youngsters annually.
The foundation, in technical collaboration with JFC in the past, has provided technical support to coaches and has conducted workshops for women coaches.
In 2017, the Tata Kolhan Super League, a community football tournament geared towards the promotion of sports and development, attracted a total of 29,216 youths from 1,826 teams from across Kolhan region.
“It is of utmost importance to us that our communities are happy and healthy, and we believe that is something sports brings in abundance. The reason the Tata Steel Foundation grassroots football programme has run for so long is because people are realising its potential,” Roy said.
