George D’Souza started his professional career in 2016 with Goan club Sporting Clube de Goa.
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Odisha FC and FC Bengaluru United have agreed to a loan deal which will see George D’Souza representing Bengaluru United in the upcoming I-League qualifiers. D’Souza started his professional career in 2016 with Goan club Sporting Clube de Goa. Being a native of Goa, this helped thrust George into the limelight as he represented the club in the Goa Professional League churning out a string of impressive performances. The left-back featured in 20 games for the team and scored four goals and provided three assists in the process. After his impressive performances for Sporting, Odisha FC came calling. He signed for the ISL club ahead of the 2020-21 season.
“As I get ready to start a new journey for Bengaluru United, I want to thank Odisha FC. I am grateful to the club and OFC management for all the support in the previous season and I am looking forward to do well in the upcoming days for Bengaluru United as I want to help them achieve their aim by qualifying for the I-League,” said D’Souza.
Odisha FC has further announced that it has partnered with NGO – Youth For Sustainability (YfS) to develop football at the grassroots level by touring different parts of Odisha. YfS is a vertical under the Human Circle Foundation and has been active in a lot of youth-centric social activities.
OFC and YfS will together visit different hotspots in various parts of Odisha and conduct grassroots football programs including an 11 a side game at the end of the day. They will provide footballing equipment to the local football clubs there and trained coaches will show them how to use those equipment. Promising footballers will be scouted from those hotspots and will also be called up for Odisha FC’s youth team camps.
“Odisha FC‘s partnership with YfS underlines our desire for unearthing the best potential talent in the state. We are hoping to ride on their enthusiasm and shared ideals in order to reach out deep into the bowels of Odisha and prise out a robust conveyor belt of local prodigies. This partnership reaffirms our commitment towards youth in the state and our philosophy of providing an opportunity to the best budding talents,” said Odisha FC’s Head of Football Operations Mr. Abhik Chatterjee while speaking on the new partnership.
Grassroots Manager Mr. Suvam Das expressed his happiness after the collaboration.
“We are happy with this collaboration with YfS. This association will definitely be fruitful for us as well as for football development in Odisha. We have the vision to promote and improve the quality of football in every corner of the State, starting with 15 hotspots. We can make a difference through the OFC Grassroots Tour,” he stated.
Mr. Kamal Prakash Seth, Co-founder, Human Circle mentioned, “This collaboration is a unique opportunity for both the organisations to reach out to the communities at the grassroots level and encourage them to participate in environment friendly activities. Football as a game is a great equaliser and it will help in bringing all the relevant stakeholders under one umbrella.”
“We call it the Medici effect. The collaboration between a football club and a youth-led initiative for Sustainable Development Goals speaks in volumes of the impact that we wish to make. I have learnt life skills from football, I made my best of friends for life on the ground and now I am working for a cause through the spirit of football. What else could be better?,” stated Mr. Punyasloka Panda, National Coordinator, Youth for Sustainability.
