Reliance Foundation’s ambitious plan to reignite campus sport and turn India into a powerful sporting nation got a huge thumbs up in just its second year, with as many as 17 centres covering 30 cities across the length and breadth of the country all set to become partners.
The Reliance Foundation Youth Sports’ (RFYS) is expected to see over 3,500 schools and colleges and more than 60,000 student athletes participate in the national championshipsthis year.
The inaugural RFYS football competition in four different categories last year elicited robust participation from schools and collegesin the eight cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Pune, Chennai, Kochi, Mumbai and Goawhere it was held. This year, Bengaluru, Jamshedpur, Hyderabad, Kozhikode, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Shillong, Aizawl and Imphal have been added to make it a truly pan India event.
The RYFS national football championship has already emerged as the perfect platform to scout young and promising talent in the country. Eight RFYS players were picked by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for its India U-23 selection trials for the AFC Qualifiers.
Ajith Sivan,a 21-year-old student from Nirmala College, Kochi, made headlines just this Sunday, when ISL club Kerala Blasters zeroed in on him as developmental player during the ISL Indian Player Draft for the upcoming season.
RFYS also helped 298 Physical Education teachers gain AIFF ‘D’ license certificates, who in turn are engaged in their respective school/college and community in imparting systematic grassroots football training.
RFYS 2017-18 will kick-off in mid-August while the grand finale is expected to be held in January 2018, making it one of the longest and biggest campus football programme in India.
RFYS Athletics
In line with its vision to make sport an integral part of every child’s growth development through multi-discipline campus sports programmes, RFYS has added Athletics as its second sportfor this year.
To be held in Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and Kochi, the RFYS Athletics will see competitions in 11 disciplines of Track & Field, with the city winners qualifying for the Nationals.
Registrations Open
Online registration for RFYS football and athletics is free and open for all public/private schools and colleges through http://register.rfyouthsports.com/RFYS/
RFYS Football 2016 in Numbers
· 20,000 students participated from 1900 + educational institutes in 8 cities
· 8 players invited by AIFF for India U23 trail camp for AFC Qualifiers
· Kochi’s Ajith Sivan selected by Kerala Blasters FC in ISL (this year)
· Digital archive of 1600 plus matches; 151 matches live streamed; 1.6m video views
· 298 of 400 PE teachers cleared AIFF D Licence certification