Nurturing Sports and Culture | Hindustan Zinc's CSR Vertical 6

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CSR Vertical 6

Nurturing Sports & Culture

A sharp focus on nurturance of sports and culture is a significant driver of our CSR programmes and initiatives.

Objective

To promote sports and the rich cultural heritage of Rajasthan at regional, state and international levels.

Description

Sports –

Zinc Football (ZF) is a marquee initiative of Hindustan Zinc that captures the passion of sports amongst the local communities of Rajasthan. We also promote cluster-based sports at local, block, state and national levels.

Culture –

We regularly organise various programmes and events to promote and preserve the rich cultural heritage of Rajasthan on regional and global platforms.

Impact

Youth benefitted through various sports initiatives, mostly across Rajasthan and pan India

28,000+

Population covered through various regional, district, state, national and international level cultural programmes

382,000+

Heroes of the Vertical

Sports –

Zinc Football Academy’s goalkeeper Sahil Poonia and players Jangminthang Haokip and Ashish Mayla were handpicked for the India U-16 National Team Camp
Sonu Haardu won the best athlete award at Khelo India
Initiated construction work during FY 2022-23 on the Anil Agarwal International Cricket Stadium in the village of Chonp, Jaipur, which will be the third largest in the world, to be built for the promotion of cricket and sports pan India and beyond; completion target FY 2023-24
Started work on Chittorgarh stadium, to be completed in FY 2023-24
Formation of Vedanta Zinc Football and Sports Foundation

Culture –

6^th Edition of Vedanta Udaipur World Music Festival 2022 held – a 3-day extravaganza with the underlying theme ’Preservation and propagation of the forgotten musical instruments and traditions of Rajasthan’

Sports & Culture Programmes

Major Activities & Achievements During FY 2022-23

Zinc Football Academy (ZFA) & Cluster-based Sports

ZFA is an effort to identify and harness the potential of Indian football to grow. To propel this aspiration, Vedanta Zinc Football & Sports Foundation has been created ensuring the Academy’s participation at national and international level tournaments
U-17 I League Youth Cup: ZFA boys played up to the quarter finals, winning all 4 games
Community school girls represented ZFA in Khelo India U-17 Girls Football League; and won 2^nd position
7,300+ players supported through cluster-based approach, aimed to promote team sports such as kabaddi, volleyball, cricket, etc. at local, block and district level
Supported 10-day 43^rd Mohan Kumar Mangalam Tournament with 20,000+ community members

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

Promotion of Culture

To promote and preserve local culture and art elements, revive the use of dying musical instruments, and provide a platform for artists
Vedanta Udaipur World Music Festival focussed on showcasing Sarangi, a bowed musical instrument, to inspire younger generations to follow its legacy; participation from more than 10 countries with 130+ artists & 55,000+ stakeholders; 3 artists’ workshops organised at various institutes in Udaipur
Organised ‘Smritiyaan’ to promote local ethnicity and culture, and contribute to the revival of dying instruments
Support and promote events such as Pushkar Mela, Bhilwara Mahotsav, Maharana Kumbha and Kabir Yatra, to promote traditional Rajasthani culture and art

People took an oath for freedom from child marriage in one of our campaign on Child Marriage Day (Bal-Vivah se Azadi) to mark the nation’s 75^th Independence Day

₹ 100,000+

Partnerships with Seher, Tabla Wizard Pt. Chaturlal Memorial Society, Maharana Kumbha, Srajan The Spark

Case Study

Touching New Milestones The Journey of Goalkeeper Sahil Poonia

At 16, Sahil Poonia is a shining star of the under-17 national football team. The journey of this player from ZFA to the national team is marked by many milestones of excellence.

The Best Goalkeeper award on his debut for India at the SAFF Under-17 Championship in Sri Lanka in September 2022 was just the beginning of Sahil’s stardom in the national football arena. This Ladwa (Hissar, Haryana) born youngster went on to represent the country at the AFC U-17 Asian Cup Qualifiers in Saudi Arabia, where India registered three wins in four matches to qualify for the 2023 Asian Cup.

Sahil’s father, as the sole breadwinner of the family, always supported his football enthusiast son’s dream of becoming an ace footballer and playing for the nation. As a child, Sahil used to accompany his friends every evening to watch football matches at a local ground. He started playing with the elders in the village – an experience that he feels gave him the right exposure, at a very young age, to play in high-intensity matches and against physically stronger players.

Impressed with his trials, ZFA scouts selected Sahil for a scholarship in 2018. He has, since then, proved himself worthy of the opportunity. His evolution as an excellent player became evident at ZFA’s exposure tour to Goa in April 2022, where his eye-catching performances against reputed teams like Dempo FC and Indian National Camp team caught everyone’s attention. He soon received a call from the national camp, and rose to new heights, thus fulfilling the confidence demonstrated by the national head coach, Bibiano Fernandes, in Sahil’s abilities.

“I am really happy to have won the Best Goalkeeper award on my debut for India. This achievement would not have been possible without the constant support of my family and also Hindustan Zinc that provided me the platform to reach this level. I will continue to work eagerly because my ultimate dream is to make it to the senior national team” Sahil had said in 2022. It is a dream we hope to see him fulfil in the near future.