The convocation ceremony for the 13th. batch of Tata Football Academy (TFA) took place today at the Michael John Auditorium at Jamshedpur. 19 cadets from 7 States celebrated their graduation from the academy after a four year residential training course designed to develop their potential to the fullest. Mr TV Narendran, CEO & MD, Tata Steel graced the occasion as Chief Guest. while Professor Nazm  Ansari, President, Jharkhand Football Association participated as Guest of Honour.

The graduating cadets have represented the country in age group tournaments and 5 have represented the Jharkhand State team. The batch has achieved the following in last four years:

Winners:

• IFA Shield - 2016
• Tata Utkalika Football Tournament
• JSA League - 2016

Runners:

• U18 I League Kolkata

16 Cadets from the team will now be playing for the Jamshedpur Football Club Reserve, while 1 player would join the main JFC team and 2 others would be playing for other professional teams.

Mr Narendran handed over the passing out certificates and mementoes to the cadets in the presence of other senior dignitaries from Tata Steel and TFA.

Speaking on the occasion Mr Narendran said; “In Tata Steel, Sports has been a way of life. Congratulations to all. To me, it is not about playing football, but playing it well. You are ambassadors of Tata Football Academy (TFA).” He also said; “This year, we have launched the Jamshedpur Football Club and received great support from the community. There is a lot of talent over here, we just need to provide opportunities."

Mr Ansari said; ‘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’

While addressing the gathering Mr Sunil Bhaskaran, Chairman, Board of Management, Tata Football Academy and Vice President, Corporate Services, Tata Steel said; ‘We will nurture football talent and aim to create superb professionals for Indian Football”

Addressing the cadets Udanta Singh, Ex-TFA player who is currently associated with Bengaluru FC said; “Your career starts now. Play well”

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has recognized TFA’s contribution and honored with an award for “Continuous Contributions to Indian Football”. This is a first of its kind recognition to any institution by AIFF.

The basic objective of Tata Football Academy (TFA) is to provide the mainstream of national football with a perennial pool of young footballers trained and oriented to international standards. Budding talent is scouted for all over the country in the age group of 14 years, trained for four years and fed to the mainstream after graduation and at the expiry of a conditional contract, to seek a career in professional football.

Unique in Asia, the Academy is geared to molding tomorrow’s winners – a dynamic new breed of footballers – dedicated to performing at international levels of excellence, who embody within themselves the promise of success.

The Tata Football Academy was inaugurated in 1987. A total of 213 cadets have graduated from TFA till date out of which 141 cadets have represented the country. 24 cadets have captained Indian football team in various age group tournaments.

The following cadets have graduated today:

1. Yendrembam Naresh
2. Subham Ghosh
3. Billu Teli
4. MD Firoz Khan
5. Swarup Das    
6. Rakesh Yadav
7. Vishal Das 
8. Mobashir Rahman 
9. Parveen
10. Ashish Pradhan
11. Harsha Parui 
12. Md Rafique Ali Sardar
13. Srinjoy Dutta
14. Baset Hansdah  
15. Karandeep
16. Prakash Naik
17. Vijay Kumar  
18. Thiyam Shrivash Singh   
19. Lara

About Tata Steel                  
Tata Steel Group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 27 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) as on March 31, 2018. It is the world's second-most geographically-diversified steel producer, with operations in 26 countries and a commercial presence in over 50 countries. The Group recorded a consolidated turnover of US $20.41 billion (INR 133,016 crore) in FY18. Tata Steel Group is spread across five continents with an employee base of nearly 74,000. Tata Steel retained Industry Leader position in FY18 and ranked second overall in the DJSI assessment, 2017. The Company has been recognised as the Climate Disclosure Leader in ‘Steel category’ by CDP (2017). Besides being a member of the World Steel Climate Action Programme, Tata Steel was felicitated with several awards including the Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant for 2014-15 and 2015-16, Best Risk Management by CNBC TV18 (2018) and ‘Corporate Strategy Award’ by Mint (2018). The Company also received the ‘Most Ethical Company’ award from Ethisphere Institute for the sixth time (2018), Steel Sustainability Champions (2017) by the World Steel Association, Dun & Bradstreet Corporate Awards (2017 & 2018), Golden Peacock HR Excellence Award by Institute of Directors (2017) as well as 'Asia's Best Integrated Report' award by the Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards (2017), among several others.

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