Tata Football Academy (TFA) has held their 12th convocation ceremony at the Michael John Auditorium at Jamshedpur, on Thursday. A total of 19 cadets have graduated from the academy's 13th batch after their four-year residential training course.
The cadets have represented India in various age-group tournaments with five of them being part of the Jharkhand state team. The batch has also emerged as winners of the IFA Shield and JSA (Jamshedpur Sporting Association) Premier Division League in 2016 besides clinching the 2017 edition of the Tata Utkalika Cup.
Moreover, 16 members are set to be part of Jamshedpur FC's Reserves, while one would eventually qualify to join the first team with the others set to be placed at other professional teams.
| 19 Graduated Cadets: Yendrembam Naresh Subham Ghosh Billu Teli MD Firoz Khan Swarup Das Rakesh Yadav Vishal Das Mobashir Rahman Parveen Ashish Pradhan Harsha Parui Md Rafique Ali Sardar Srinjoy Dutta Baset Hansdah Karandeep Prakash Naik Vijay Kumar Thiyam Shrivash Singh Lara |
Speaking at the convocation, T V Narendran, CEO & MD, Tata Steel, and Chief Guest at the occasion stated, "In Tata Steel, sports has been a way of life. My congratulations to all the graduating cadets. To me, it is not about playing football, but playing it well. You are the ambassadors of Tata Football Academy (TFA).
"This year, we have launched the Jamshedpur Football Club and have received great support from the community. There is a lot of talent over here, we just need to provide opportunities," he added.
Professor Nazm Ansari, president of the Jharkhand Football Association, the Guest of Honour at the event stated, "We are very proud of having TFA in the state of Jharkhand and we will not leave any stone unturned in providing our support. Let us fly high."
Sunil Bhaskaran, Chairman, Board of Management, Tata Football Academy, and Vice President of Corporate Services at Tata Steel stated, "We will nurture football talent and aim to create superb professionals for Indian football."
Meanwhile, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has conferred the TFA with an award for its 'Continuous Contribution to Indian Football'.
The academy, inaugurated in 1987, has seen a total of 213 cadets graduate through its ranks and 141 have represented the country. Of these 141 graduates, 21 captained the Indian contingent at various age-group tournaments.
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