With an aim to strengthen the sports ecosystem and build football culture at the grassroots, Uflex Ltd, as a part of its corporate social responsibility, has committed itself to support Stairs School Football League (SSFL). Uflex had associated with the league in 2014 and with this year’s support it has extended its commitment for the next five years.
“We believe that without sports, the personality development of a child would be incomplete. Our association with SSFL will help in providing a complete ‘personality package’ to the children. While we are into the business of flexible packaging, socially our focus is to provide holistic personality package to the torchbearers of tomorrow through sports. We are committed to develop sports at the grassroots. We strongly believe that sports can tremendously contribute to the overall development of not just the children but the entire community for that matter. Being free to play is the universal right of every child. Our support to SSFL is a step towards ensuring that children in Delhi get free access to play football at some of the best sporting facilities across the state. . We believe that this initiative will give a tremendous boost to the sport by identifying, supporting and nurturing talent right from early adolescence.
I was amazed to learn that 288 schools are participating in one league, making it the biggest school-level league in India. Moreover, with participation of 32 girls’ teams, it becomes one-of-its-kind football tournament that also propagates ‘gender parity’, which is a must for the growth of our country. I congratulate Team STAIRS in achieving this scale and wish them good luck in this timely and meaningful initiative,” said Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman and Managing Director, Uflex Group.
Uflex Group also supports some of the other grassroots sports focused initiatives in several other states across the country.
“I am thankful to Uflex Group for encouraging our efforts and standing by the initiative. The support will help us making an impact that the country desires to see. One of the fundamental reasons for Indian football not being able to make a mark in the international circuit is that the country is not being able to produce skilled footballers from the grassroots. We have plenty of talented children in Delhi schools alone, but they hardly get a platform to showcase their talent and stay motivated to pursue their career in the game. SSFL not only provides a platform to these children to present and hone their skills, but also acts as a first step towards professional football. We ensure that a promising player spotted here is nurtured, trained, motivated and gets enough support to be able to make a mark. The fundamental objective of every step we take at STAIRS is to create a holistic sporting environment for children,” said Siddhartha Upadhyay, Founder and Secretary General, STAIRS.
“We are hoping to see more corporate groups coming forward to support us in taking SSFL across the length and breadth of India. The support we seek is not just in terms of financial contribution for programmes, but also through partnerships wherein each partner adds some value to the initiative or takes care of one aspect of the programme, be it logistics, communication, outreach or healthcare”, added Upadhyay.
The STAIRS School Football League (SSFL) will be officially launched on 26 August 2015 at Thyagraj Sports Complex, New Delhi. The idea of the event is to boost the football culture among young children. The event is solely meant for the children under 14 years and under 17 years of age and follows the FIFA World Cup format.
It will begin with league matches at over 10 different venues across four zones in Delhi while the semi-final and final games will be played at the central venue. All the school teams intending to participate also have to go through the qualifier rounds.
The league has become one of the most significant ‘talent spotting’ platforms for clubs and bodies seeking to acquire talent at an early age. While many officials and individuals from professional bodies keep their eyes on the budding players during the matches, selectors from international foreign clubs watch ‘live streaming’ of important matches and even call for recorded videos to assess the performance of promising players.
In the first edition of SSFL last year, over 500 schools had applied out of which only 128 could qualify to participate in the league. The number is expected to double this time around. STAIRS also fields six teams (under-14 and under-17) that get a wild card entry to the event as they are selected through spotting camps across Delhi and then trained by professionals. This year’s STAIRS team comprises players chosen out of a wide array of over 4,000 sportspersons from across Delhi. Last year, the STAIRS team had ranked fourth in the tournament.
About Stairs
STAIRS is a New Delhi-headquartered not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation (NGO) which aims to empower the underprivileged youth of India. It is committed to providing opportunities to the young Indians so that they can lead a life of dignity. The NGO, which started in 2000, nurtures the talented sportsmen at the bottom-of-the-pyramid to ensure sports become a mean of earning a living.
STAIRS also organises educational and health programmes and educates youth about the dignity of labour and equality irrespective of caste, creed or sex. STAIRS operates through its 300 centres spread across six states in India.
About UFLEX Ltd
Uflex Limited is the largest fully integrated Indian flexible packaging solution provider to a range of clients across industries both in India and overseas. It enjoys a formidable market presence in more than 140 countries. Since its inception back in 1983, Uflex has grown from strength to strength to evolve as a truly Indian Multinational with consumers spread across the world. Uflex today has state-of-the-art packaging facilities at multiple locations in India with installed capacity of over 99,000 TPA. Uflex has plastic film manufacturing facilities in India, UAE, Mexico Egypt, Poland and USA with cumulative installed capacity in excess of 337,000 TPA.
Uflex Film lines are accredited with ISO 9001, 14001 and HACCP certifications. Uflex caters to markets spanning across the globe in countries like USA, Canada, South American countries, UK and other European Countries, Russia, South Africa, CIS, Asian and African nations. Integrated within its core business profile are allied businesses like Engineering, Cylinders and Chemicals which further give Uflex a superior edge above competition.
Uflex Limited is also a part of the D&B Global Database and winner of various prestigious national and international awards for its products’ excellence. Uflex Ltd offers technologically superior packaging for a wide variety of products such as snack foods, candy and confectionery, sugar, rice & other cereals, beverages, tea & coffee, dessert mixes, noodles, wheat flour, soaps and detergents, shampoos & conditioners, vegetable oil, spices, marinates & pastes, cheese & dairy products, frozen food, sea food, meat, anti-fog, pet food, pharmaceuticals, contraceptives, garden fertilizers and plant nutrients, motor oil and lubricants, automotive and engineering components etc.
Some of Uflex Limited’s clients on the global turf include Unilever, Pepsi, Wrigley, Procter & Gamble, Colgate, Palmolive, Nestle, Gillette, Ranbaxy, Perfetti, Joyco, Monsanto, ITC, Godrej Pillsbury, Tata Tea, Hindustan Petroleum, Indian Oil, Britannia, Dabur, Haldiram, Wockhardt, HUL, Parle Biscuit, Birla 3M, among others.
