Goa Olympic Association (GOA) ushered in a new chapter at its Annual General Meeting held at Panaji, with Sadanand Shet Tanavade taking over as President and a new Executive Council elected for the 2026-30 term. The election proceedings were conducted by Returning Officer Adv. Vithal Naik, who formally declared the results, following which the new office-bearers took charge.
In his acceptance address, Tanavade said GOA would work towards creating better support systems for athletes and pursue the long-standing vision of an Olympic Bhavan in Goa. He said the Association would also look at the possibility of hosting at least one major sporting event in Goa if India wins the Olympics bid in 2036, while stressing that affiliated associations must work harder to identify young talent and groom them for higher levels of competition. He also urged associations to explore CSR funding and other avenues of financial support, and stressed the need for all associations to keep their accounts and financial records up to date. Tanavade further announced that GOA will soon have its own independent office.
The AGM also constituted an Olympic Bhavan Nirman Committee (Chairman Gurudatta Bhakta, Secretary Sunil Naik), CSR Enrolment Committee (Chairman Narendra Sawaikar, Secretary Praveen Shenoy) and Constitution Amendment Committee (Chairman Sudesh Thakur, Secretary Abhay Bhamaikar) as part of its initial roadmap. Outgoing Secretary General Gurudatta D. Bhakta, while reflecting on the Association’s work, lauded the efforts of Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant and SAG Observer Dr Ajay R. Gaude in helping settle the pending submissions relating to the National Games.
Dr Gaude, in his address, announced that the grants due to sports associations for deputing teams to National Championships would shortly be released, providing important support to associations and athletes. He also announced that Goa would soon have a National Centre of Excellence, which has received in-principle approval from the Union Ministry, with top Indian players expected to come to Goa for training. Dr Gaude said SAG would support GOA’s initiative to establish its own office and would explore providing office space to the Association in one of the state’s sports stadiums. He also spoke of the Government’s plans for a Mini Olympics and stressed that SAG, GOA and the State Sports Associations must work in sync to give a further boost to sport in Goa.
IOA Observer Namdev Shirgaokar, in his address, said that although Goa may be a small state, it has tremendous sporting potential and can achieve much more through coordinated efforts and a strong focus on athletes.
Incoming Secretary General Sandeep Heble briefed the gathering on the vision for GOA’s new website (goaolympic.com), which is being developed as a modern, Association and athlete-centric digital platform incorporating Artificial Intelligence and new-age technology. The platform will progressively provide athletes with digital profiles, sporting records, results, rankings, opportunities and technology-enabled tools aimed at their development and welfare, while making GOA and its affiliated Associations more accessible and relevant to the younger generation.
The AGM also recognised the contribution of past office-bearers and members, with Gurudatta Bhakta, R. D. Manguexcar, Farrel Furtado, Anagha Warlikar, Siddharth Satardekar and Chetan Kavlekar among those felicitated for their services to the Association.
The new GOA Executive Committee for 2026-30 comprises President Sadanand Shet Tanavade; Vice Presidents Dr Caitano Fernandes, Sandhya Paliekar, Sudesh Thakur and Bhageshri Padloskar; Secretary General Sandeep Heble; Treasurer Jayesh Naik; Joint Secretary Manoj Patil; and Executive Members Rukmini Kamat, Navin Pai Raikar, Abhay Bhamaikar, Viplava Bhakta and Akhil Parrikar.
