Nagaland Olympic Association and Sports For All (SFA) partnership to enable school athletes in Nagaland to showcase their sporting talent

Press Release

• 07-02-2024

Bengaluru, 7 February, 2024: Nagaland Olympic Association (NOA) and Sports For All (SFA), have announced a strategic partnership to strengthen the grassroots ecosystem in the state. The announcement was made in attendance of esteemed dignitaries, Shri. Neiphiu Rio, Honorable Chief Minister of Nagaland; Shri. Y Patton, Honorable Deputy CM, Nagaland; Shri. Abu Metha, Advisor to CM and Chairman IDAN and Shri Neivikuolie Khatsu, Asst Secretary General, NOA, alongwith SFA team represented by Rishikesh Joshi, Founder and Tilak Kakkad, Director’s Office. This partnership marks a significant step towards the realization of the shared vision to encourage sports participation, empower talent, and build a platform for athletes to showcase their skills on a larger stage.

Nagaland, known for its rich cultural heritage, has been making commendable strides in sports. The recently announced Nagaland Olympic & Paralympic Games 2024 across 16 sporting disciplines underscore the state's dedication to creating opportunities for athletes. Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Cricket, Football, etc. are some of the key sports of the state. Previously, Nagaland has also produced some great sportsmen like Dr. T Ao (the first captain of the Indian Olympic football team) and Chekrovolu Swuro (Olympian archer and Arjuna Awardee).

Shri. Neiphiu Rio, Honorable Chief Minister of Nagaland, shared, "Nagaland Olympic Association and Sports For All (SFA), together aim to create an environment that encourages sports at the grassroots level and ignite a passion for excellence. Our aim is to bring about sustainable change for our state, through sports. Introducing a sporting culture in school, strengthening the same in college, creating a strong ecosystem for women athletes and coaches, are key initiatives that make Nagaland a great contender to host the National Games”.

Adding to this revolutionary association, expressed Shri. Abu Metha, Advisor to CM and Chairman IDAN, “This partnership is aligned with our vision to broaden the sporting ecosystem in Nagaland and offer an opportunity for our athletes to test their capabilities and gain exposure. We are looking forward to the journey of triumph and personal growth that lies ahead for our athletes, our future Champions”.

SFA, India's largest tech-enabled multi-sports school competition platform, has been working towards the development of grassroots sports ecosystem of the country, since inception in 2015. Through this partnership, the company will facilitate its flagship IP - SFA Championships – a pivotal platform for developing grassroots sports in the state and the country. The commitment of the NOA and the Government of Nagaland, will be a catalyst in the discovery of sporting talent at the SFA Championships. 

Speaking on the partnership, Rishikesh Joshi, Founder, Sports For All (SFA), elaborated, "The partnership with Nagaland Olympic Association strengthens our mission to enable a platform for the country’s youth to compete and play sports. Nagaland has seen significant growth in terms of sporting infrastructure and budding athletes, and this association will assist to further the sporting ecosystem of the state and our country. After having created a valuable impact across 9 cities within a span of 3 months, SFA Championships will now make a debut in the North-East, the grounds of emerging sporting potential”.

With the forward path to host 150 Championships across 50 cities of India, in the next five years, this partnership is a move forward in making sports accessible for school athletes across the country, thereby empowering today’s talent to become the Champions of tomorrow. The journey to represent the country at the Olympics, is what SFA Championships is enabling for emerging athletes.

About Nagaland Olympic Association (NOA)

Nagaland Olympic Association is the body responsible for facilitating implementation of state policies with respect to sports and encouraging and spreading awareness about sports in the State of Nagaland under the aegis of the Government of Nagaland and the Indian Olympic Association. Nagaland Olympic Association’s aim is to broaden base sports in the State of Nagaland and bring excellence in sports by creating infrastructure and providing support for the training of athletes & teams participating in sports events and planning, organizing, and delivering sports education. Nagaland Olympic Association promotes sports across the State of Nagaland through its allied units and supports and nurtures talent in young athletes and provides them requisite support through its various sports’ promotional schemes.

About Sports For All (SFA)

Sports For All (SFA) is India's largest tech-enabled multi-sport grassroots competition platform. The vision is to make youth fall in love with sports through inspiring and joyful sporting experiences. Founders Rishikesh Joshi and Vishwas Choksi, since the inception of SFA in 2015, have determinedly focused on transforming and mobilizing school sporting championships in the country, by providing an inclusive, diverse, safe, and best-in-class platform for the youth to realize their fullest potential through sports.

SFA Championships, SFA’s flagship IP, brings forth the potential of large-scale multi-sporting competitions propelled by tech and data analytics. Being digital in nature, the SFA Championships have today become the backbone of identifying sporting potential at the grassroots level. In the 2023-2024 edition, SFA encouraged 150,000 athletes to participate at 9 SFA Championships, across the cities of Indore, Uttarakhand, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Ahmedabad, to determine the “number one school in sports”, in each city.

With a technology-led approach at its core, SFA enables the entire grassroots sport ecosystem via SFAPLAY.COM, a platform designed to empower and connect all stakeholders via statistics, data, analytics, match videos, content, performance management, and competition management systems.

SFA is the leading sports entrepreneurial venture empaneled with the Sports Authority of India (SAI). We have been the “official partner” of the Indian Olympic Association, enabling support for Indian contingent to the Tokyo Olympics, 2020; Birmingham Commonwealth Games, 2022; Asian Games, 2022. SFA has been an integral team at the 36th National Games, Gujarat, 2022, the 37th National Games, Goa, 2023 and editions of Khelo India Youth Games in Haryana, Pune, Guwahati and recently the Tamil Nadu edition. In the year 2023, SFA signed on as the “powered by” sponsors for the Khelo India Youth Games, for the next five years.

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