Sports

Goal

To promote sports at regional, state, and international levels.

Partnerships

With The Football Link, Young Monk Communications Pvt. Ltd., Vedanta Zinc Football and Sports Foundation, Rajasthan Cricket Association, Government of India

Impact

26,100+ Youth benefited through various sports initiatives, mostly across Rajasthan and pan India

Key Features

• Two Zinc football players, Ashish Mayla & Sayed Saniya, were selected for the Rajasthan state team
• Zinc Football Academy (ZFA) bestowed with the topmost Elite 3-star rating by the All-India Football Federation
• ZFA, proudly representing DAV HZL School Zawar Mines, became the first team from Rajasthan to win the CBSE Under-19 National Football Tournament
• Four ZFA players represented Rajasthan in the National School Tournament and 2 ZFA players represented Rajasthan and Haryana in the Santosh Trophy, with ZFA playing a total of 24 matches
• AIFF U-17 Youth League, 4 home matches played out of 4; 2 matches won by ZFA against Sports Authority of Gujarat & Baroda FC and 1 match drawn against Rajasthan United Football Club
• Sahil Poonia, goalkeeper, became 1^st ZFA player to sign a long-term professional contract with the top ISL Club
• 15-year-old Mohammed Kaif, who joined our Academy in 2018, was handpicked to represent India at the 2023 SAFF Under-16 Championship in Bhutan, where he captained Team India on his international debut versus Bangladesh
• Debut in the Reliance U-21 League & qualified for AIFF U-17 Youth League final round
• Started 1^st U-13 (non-residential) team with players from the local community in Zawar and surrounding areas
• Conducted 2 AIFF Blue Cubs League for U-7 to U-11 players in Zawar & Agucha locations respectively

Major Activities & Achievements during FY 2023-24

• ZFA boys played in Rajasthan State Open Invitational tournaments & won all matches
• Regular training with 84 students ongoing at 2 community centres – GSSS Tidi & Singhatwada, at Zawar location
• Support extended to community sports event, the Chittorgarh Khel Mahakumbh, benefiting 6,000 players
• Support extended for kabaddi and volleyball tournaments at the district level
• Garry Church, a highly skilled Australian coach and advanced coach educator, conducted a workshop for ZFA coaches
• Veteran Chennaiyin FC goalkeeper coach, Rajat Guha, led an online goalkeeping workshop for ZFA
• ZFA also had Mr. Mridul Banerjee, an ISL Assist Coach to train our boys.
• Four Zinc football community schoolgirls got selected to represent Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, in the West Zone Inter University Women’s Football Championship
• Six players from ZFA – Puneet Kumar, Mohd. Kaif, Himesh Meena and Prem Hansdak, were selected for the Under-16 Boys National Team Preparatory Camp in Srinagar. Biswajeet and Riyas also selected for a separate India U-20 camp.
• At the Anil Agarwal International Cricket Stadium, the world’s third largest cricket stadium, fifty percent of the construction has been completed on the entrance, south pavilion, north pavilion, and ground levelling work. Additionally, 50 percent of the seating tier foundation work has been accomplished