Mumbai: A multi-discipline pan-India sports initiative under the banner of Reliance Foundation Youth Sports (RFYS) was launched here today by Reliance Foundation chairperson Neeta Ambani.

RFYS said it is poised to professionalise school and college sports competitions with a unified approach towards creating an ecosystem to encourage, support and define a career path in sports for the youth.

In the first year, 2,200 teams in four categories – Junior Boys, Senior Boys, Senior Girls and Senior Boys – will be competing in the football games to be played in eight cities – Mumbai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Kochi, Goa, Chennai ,Pune and Delhi.

The competition will have pre-qualifying rounds followed by the main draws in each of the above cities. City winners in each category would qualify to play for the national honours, a Reliance Foundation statement said.

Over the next three months, the megapolis and its suburbs will see over 500 institutes fielding over 600 teams playing football at various grounds.

RFYS will produce video footage of the competitions, making the scouting process for raw talent a much easier task across the country.

It has also set up an six member advisory board comprising sports personalities including Nita Ambani, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, tennis player Leander Paes, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal, professor Dipak Jain and actor Ranbir Kapoor.

At the onset of the launch today, Wilson College and H R College played a football match at the Bandra Kurla complex.

Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor also cheered for the two teams. In the game, H R College emerged victorious as they thrashed their opponents 2-0.

Foundation chairperson Neeta Ambani is a member of the International Olympic Committee.

PTI