The first batch of the All Nepal Football Association's Academy has provided sports gears to 60 players of women's football academy in Rautahat during a programme organised in Kathmandu on Sunday.

The women’s academy with eight goalkeepers trains its players two times a day at a ground in Chandranigahapur, Rautahat.

A member of the ANFA Academy's first batch Mansajan Rajbhandari said, "We were touched by the story of the sisters in the academy who are in football despite their financial limitations, and wanted to contribute a little."

Only a few members of the first batch of the academy have remained in the sport. "Despite many of us now in different sectors, football is always our priority. We will continue to support the growth of football across the nation," said Rajbhandari.

Rajiv Shrestha, another member of the batch, said, "The academy in Rautahat has been producing a lot of players for different age group squads of Nepali women's team and the departmental clubs. We are very proud to be able to provide them with a few resources."

Noraraj Kafle, a product of the second batch of the ANFA Academy, has been shouldering the responsibility of coaching the academy’s players. Kafle received 60 sets of jerseys and tracksuits on behalf of the academy.

The first batch of the ANFA Academy, which has formed the group ‘Special 41’, had provided RS800,000 to support a community school in Surkhet last year. Members of the first batch aim to take their group ahead as a foundation dedicated to the development of grassroots football in Nepal.