Anantapur Sports Academy wins Sportstar Aces Sports for Good Honour

Launched in 2000, the Anantpur Sports Academy has used sports as a medium to bring about social change among rural youth, and runs 131 grassroots centres catering to more than 10,000 children.

Cadets of the Anantapur Sports Academy holding the Sportstar Aces Award.

The Anantapur Sports Academy (ASA) became the first recipient of the Sports for Good honour at the 2021 Sportstar ACES Awards for its efforts to promote sporting values and habits at the grassroots level.

“It’s a pleasure to receive the Sportstar ACES Award in the category Sports For Good. It is something I understand perfectly. That’s what our sports programme at the ASA is all about. Sport is not just about sport; it is a tool for us to be more inclusive society. Every bit of work we do, including sports, has been about a more inclusive society, and sports has been amazing to bridge the distances and the gaps,” said ASA programme director Moncho Ferrer, highlighting the humanitarian goal of the institution, while thanking the children for making it possible.

“I would like to thank all the people who have worked all these years in the ASA team, all the children who have participated in the programme. Thank you very much, and all the best,” he said while accepting the award.

 

Launched in 2000, the Anantpur Sports Academy has used sports as a medium to bring about social change among rural youth, and runs 131 grassroots centres catering to more than 10,000 children. The academy provides high-level training to talented youngsters at the Anantpur Sports Village, a fully equipped day-boarding and residential academy that houses more than 400 sportspersons.

Even amid the Covid-19 pandemic, around 300 children from the underprivileged communities of the district are still learning football at the academy, courtesy a joint venture by La Liga, the La Liga Foundation and the Vicente Ferrer Foundation.

The 2021 edition of the Sportstar ACES Awards honoured the Giants of the Decade in Indian sport, with the winners being assessing on their performance and consistency from 2011 to 2020. Eleven awards were presented under the popular choice category, which was open to public voting, along with 14 jury awards as well as special recognition awards under two new categories – Sports for Good and Giants off the Field – that recognise the work of organisations and individuals who have used sports for the betterment of society.