The Nagaland Olympic Association (NOA) on Wednesday announced a “strategic partnership” with Sports For All (SFA) — a tech-driven sports competition organiser at school and college level — to strengthen the sports ecosystem at the grassroots in the northeastern state.

The announcement was made in the presence of chief minister Neiphiu Rio, deputy chief minister Y. Patton and Abu Metha, adviser to the chief minister and secretary-general of the NOA, among others.

The partnership marks a significant step towards the realisation of a shared vision to encourage sports participation, empower talent, and build a platform for athletes to showcase their skills on a larger stage.

“Through the partnership, SFA will facilitate its flagship IP-SFA Championships — a pivotal platform for developing grassroots sports in the state and the country. The commitment of the NOA and the Nagaland government will be a catalyst in the discovery of sporting talent at the SFA Championships,” a government statement said.

Chief minister Rio said the NOA and SFA together aim to “create” an environment that encourages sports at the grassroots and ignites a passion for excellence. “Our aim is to bring about sustainable change for our state through sports. Introducing a sporting culture in school, strengthening the same in college, creating a strong ecosystem for women athletes and coaches, are key initiatives that make Nagaland a great contender to host the National Games,” Rio said.

The SFA, founded in 2015, is India’s largest tech-enabled multi-sport grassroots competition platform. Its vision is to “make youth fall in love with sports through inspiring and joyful sporting experiences” and help the “youth to realise their fullest potential through sports”. The SFA was awarded the best sports start-up in 2018 by the FICCI and got empanelled with the Sports Authority of India in 2020.

With a technology-led approach at its core, SFA enables the entire grassroots sports ecosystem via sfaplay.com, a platform designed to empower and connect all stakeholders via statistics, data, analytics, match videos, content, performance management, and competition management systems. In the year 2023, SFA signed on as the “powered by” sponsor for the Khelo India Youth Games for the next five years.

On the other hand, the NOA is the body responsible for facilitating the implementation of state policies on sports and encouraging and spreading awareness about sports in the state under the aegis of the state government and the Indian Olympic Association.

NOA secretary-general Metha said: “The partnership is aligned with our vision to broaden the sporting ecosystem in Nagaland and offer an opportunity for our athletes to test their capabilities and gain exposure. We are looking forward to the journey of triumph and personal growth that lies ahead for our athletes, our future champions.”

SFA founder Rishikesh Joshi said Nagaland had seen significant growth in terms of sporting infrastructure and budding athletes, and this association “will assist to further the sporting ecosystem of the state and our country”.

“After having created a valuable impact across nine cities within a span of three months, SFA Championships will now make a debut in the Northeast, the grounds of emerging sporting potential.”

“With the forward path to host 150 championships across 50 cities of India, in the next five years, this partnership is a move forward in making sports accessible for school athletes across the country, thereby empowering today’s talent to become the champions of tomorrow,” Joshi said.