AGENCIES, MUMBAI: Goa’ Stendly Fernandes of Rosary Higher Secondary School, Navelim, received the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports scholarships along with nineteen others, after the conclusion of RFYS National Football Championship in Mumbai earlier this month.

The Goan lad made the cut from the Senior Boys category.

As many as 20 players spread over four categories -- Junior Boys, Senior Boys, College Boys and School Girls -- received the scholarship. It's an elite list of players that includes the Golden Boot, Golden Ball and Golden Glove winners of the RFYS National Championship.

Five players each from Kolkata and Shillong and four from Chandigarh have been shortlisted for the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports scholarships.

The selected players promptly received a huge boost with the All-India Football Federation showing interest in their development.

"The 20 players who have got the RFYS scholarships can be termed as some of the finest in the country in the youth category," Kushal Das, General Secretary, AIFF said.

Nazim Ali, Arpan Seth (both Gangadharpur Vidyamandir) in the Junior Boys category, Gaurab Das (Kapasdanga Satin Sen Vidyapeth) in Senior Boys and Vincent Das and Akash Mondal (both Netaji Nagar Day College) in College Boys were the players from Kolkata who got the scholarships. They were largely instrumental in their respective teams reaching the semifinals.