Can Pro Volleyball change the landscape of the sport in India

02/03/2019

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After IPL laid a platform for many sporting federations to start their own franchise-based tournaments, Pro Kabaddi League has turned out to be a successful sporting event in India. With Pro Volleyball joining the bandwagon of leagues, the sport can expect a positive change in the country now.

People used to talk only about Indian cricketers and the cricket team around a decade ago when there was a discussion on games and sports. People were mostly unaware of other sports and the media also didn’t give the same coverage to other sporting events like it was for international cricket matches. IPL also received the similar reception not only from crores of fans in the country, who consider cricket as their religion but also from the media.

However, the commencement of the cash-rich IPL and its success gave other sports boards of the country an idea to start their own leagues. Hockey, football, badminton, wrestling, table tennis and most importantly the indigenous sport of kabaddi, all these sporting events have seen great growth after the organisation of respective leagues. Now, the Volleyball Federation of India has taken an initiative in association with Baseline Ventures to kick start its own franchise-based tournament – Pro Volleyball.

Volleyball, as a game, has never been too popular in India apart from the South Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. India has never been a medal aspirant during global events of the sport and playing in an Olympics is still a dream for the Indian volleyball team. Since the formation of the federation in 1951, the organisation of such a league is considered as the greatest step taken in the country to take the game ahead. India, recently, had a terrible show in the Asian Games in 2018 where they finished 12th and won only one game against Hong Kong. However, in the past, the Indian national team had bagged a silver medal at the Jakarta Asian Games in 1962 and that remains as the best performance by Team India so far. India had also clinched bronze medals in 1958 and 1986 Asiads and in recent days, India also won a silver medal in Asian Men’s Volleyball Cup in 2014. But apart from these events, they have not been at the level of other top teams from the continent throughout the history of the sport in Asia.

India has seen some great players playing this sport but as a team, the performance has shown a downward trend. Players like Late Jimmy George, who participated in the 1986 Seoul Asiad, made the game popular but only in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Yejju Subba Rao, who won the Best Blocker Award in the 2005 Asian Championship, and well-known coach GE Sridharan are other well-known personalities from the volleyball court in the country. But the lack of coverage and live telecast of volleyball matches have been the primary reasons for the struggling popularity of the sport in the country. As far as the live telecasts of games is concerned, people in India were able to watch the Indian team play only during the Asian Games and that too if there isn't a more popular event taking place simultaneously.

With the advent of the Pro Volleyball, the sport is expected to take a big leap in India as it will provide the young and budding talents of the country a stage to perform. With every team having international icon players in this franchise-based league, the Indian players will have a lot to learn from them during the matches. According to the team composition rules, the franchises are bound to have two foreign players and two national under 21 players. This comes as an opportunity for all those players in India who have proved their worth at the junior nationals.

Not only will the standard or quality of the game improve, but the league will also provide them with a good career option like cricket where they can look forward to earning money in the league. The Indian players were a part of the auction in December in which the six franchise owners spent good amounts to get their choice of players. Earlier, the volleyball players had to wait for jobs in the government sector or PSUs under the sports quota but now many believe that the league will now give them the financial security as well.

Speaking to SportsCafe, international setter Ranjit Singh said, “With the organising of the league, I think the sport will grow in India. There will be a more professional set up in volleyball now and many youngsters will be attracted towards the sport. This will be a perfect platform for the younger generation of volleyball players. It will become a career option for many aspiring sportspersons as not all players find a place in the Indian team and not all get jobs but now, with the league coming up the players can think of making some money in spite of failing to get a job. Earlier only players from camps made it to the next level but, here in the league there is a rule of two junior players in the team, so a player doing well there will draw the attention of the selectors or coaches and can get into the team.”

The league is expected to be a good advertisement for the sport because of the live coverage on national television. People will get to know more about the rules and regulations of volleyball and the players will get their due recognition through the league. Let’s take an example of kabaddi, before the commencement of Pro Kabaddi League in 2014, the sport was limited to a few parts of North India and Maharashtra. However, after five years, the situation is different and PKL is one of the top sporting events in the country as far as popularity is concerned. It was started with eight teams but have 12 teams participating in the league for the last two seasons which shows the growth of the sport.

PKL acted as a boost only for the popularity of kabaddi as India was always a powerhouse in the sport. But, for volleyball, it is different as the league will be a huge boost in more ways than one. Some top foreign players like USA’s Paul Lotman (Calicut Heroes), Carson Clark (Black Hawks Hyderabad), and David Lee (Kochi Blue Spikers), Canada’s Rudy Verhoff (Chennai Spartans), Tomislav Coskovic (U Mumba Volley) from Turkey U Mumba Volley and Ahmedabad’s Novica Bjelica from Serbia.

“I am sure that this league will be a huge boost for the sport. It will be a proper competitive league for all the players and we as players need to ensure a good fitness level and maintain a proper diet as well. With the increase in competition, I think the Indian players will go to practice regularly and this will ensure a brighter future for many beginners in the country. The involvement of foreign players will also be a huge positive for the youngsters from India,” India’s dependable blocker Deepesh Sinha told SportsCafe.

The league commenced on Saturday and the six teams - Ahmedabad Defenders, Calicut Heroes, Chennai Spartans, Black Hawks Hyderabad, Kochi Blue Spikers and U Mumba Volley will battle it out for the title at two venues in Kochi and Chennai. The tournament will be played in a round robin format and the top four teams on the points table will make it to the semifinals.

The success of the league will depend on the quality of the game to be played by some top players in various teams. So, with the start of the league, it is the start of a new era in Indian volleyball which can take the sport a long way ahead in near future.

Can Pro Volleyball change the landscape of the sport in India

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