RAIA: The Vedanta’s Sesa Football Academy bagged the top honours for their outstanding performance in the 2023-24 Season at the Goa Football Association (GFA) Awards Ceremony held recently.
The annual event, which celebrates the year-round achievements of GFA-registered clubs, witnessed Sesa FA being honoured in both individual and team categories.
The football academy was recognised as the runners-up in both the Goa Pro League and GFA U-19 Division I League, while individual accolades included Joshua D’Silva winning Fan’s Player of the Year and GFA Player of the Year awards.
Coach Charles Dias was named Coach of the Year for his leadership in guiding the team to near victories.
The ceremony was graced by the distinguished presence of All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Kalyan Chaubey, GFA President Caitano Fernandes, GFA Senior Vice-President Antonio Pango, Vice-President Jonathan De Souza, former India captain and goalkeeper Arjuna Awardee and Padma Shri Brahmanand Sankhwalkar, former managing director – Sesa Goa and independent director, SCDF, P K Mukherjee and other dignitaries from the Goan football fraternity and beyond.
The awards swept by Team Sesa FA included a special trophy by the association for having finished as runners-up at the Goa Pro League 2023-24, top-tier, also securing a coveted position for themselves in the I-League 3.
The awards were presented by Kalyan and Caitano. Furthermore, the Sesa FA U-19 team was recognised for its commendable performance, finishing as runners-up in the GFA U-19 Division I-League.
On the occasion, AIFF President Chaubey lauded team Sesa FA, stating, “Heartiest congratulations to Team Sesa Football Academy for qualifying for I-League 3. Sesa FA has made immense contributions to the Indian football since 1999 through its academy, consistently producing some of the nation’s finest footballers. I extend my best wishes to the team for their journey in I-League 3 and hope to see more outstanding players emerge from Sesa Football Academy.”
In the individual category, Joshua D’Silva was a standout, earning the Fan’s Player of the Year title with an impressive 3,532 votes out of 13,000 polled online.
He was also named GFA Player of the Year for his exceptional achievements, including scoring 24 goals in the Goa Pro League Season.
Charles Dias was honoured as Coach of the Year by the association for his exemplary leadership, guiding Sesa FA to a near victory in the Goa Pro League, narrowly missing the top spot by a single point, and leading the team to the Santosh Trophy final in Arunachal Pradesh.
The Vedanta Women’s League, which concluded last year, also received a special mention at the ceremony. In addition, five Sesa FA players – Joshua D’Silva, Clencio Pinto, Daniel Gomes, Shridharnath Gawas, and Umang Gaikwad who represented Goa State team in the recently concluded Santosh Trophy and helped in securing the runners-up position after a long hiatus – were also recognised with ‘Special Trophies’.
Commending Vedanta Sesa Goa for their contribution towards improving football infrastructure for women, GFA President Caitano said, “Vedanta Sesa Goa has supported Goan football in many ways. Their support to women’s football has been a game changer, and it is only because of the Vedanta Women’s League (VWL) that Goa State won the U-15 Girls Nationals after a gap of 22 years because the VWL allowed us to create the talent pool and revive girls and women’s football.”
