Volleyball players Akhin G.S. and Jerome Vinith are no strangers to attention as they are prominent members of the Indian team, who hog the limelight in almost every tournament, local or national that they attend.
But even the two superstars of Indian volley have confessed that they were awed by the promotional events for the upcoming Pro Volleyball League, a first of its kind professional league for the game in the country that is set to begin early next year.
“Everyone is excited, I just can’t wait for the league to begin,” says ace blocker Akhin G.S., who is one of the six icon players for season-one, along with Mohan Ukkrapandian, Prabhagaran, Gurinder Singh, Ranjit Singh and Deepesh Sinha. They’ll be part of the six teams that will compete in a round robin league at venues in Kochi and Chennai from February 2 to 23.
Jerome Vinith
All 18 matches, including the semifinals and the final, will be telecast on Sony channels, the league has promised. In addition to the Indian icon players and other domestic talents, including U-21 stars, the highlight of the league is the presence of two foreign players per team. To stimulate the interest, the league announced the arrival of American David Lee, a veteran of the game, an Olympic gold medallist.
And just being part of a photo-shoot with Lee has got Akhin super excited and he feels the league is going to spur the development of the six-a-side action-packed game in the country.
“Yes, just the ad shoot we took part in was a first in my experience. And seeing a legend like David Lee in person gave me goosebumps.”
Akhin, who was part of the national team at the recent Asian Games is certain that a professional league will see the game attain the next level in India.
“It is obvious that for any game to develop you need a solid national league, look at how Kabaddi has emerged. In the case of volleyball alone, there was a time when Iran was weaker than our national team but look at them now, not just India I doubt if any Asian country can even touch them. They won the Asian Games comfortably. If they could reach that level it is down to the success of their national league.”
Jerome Vinith shares the same view and he also believes that telecasting the league would do wonders for the game. The attacker who is another of Kerala’s finest spikers, who has been to two Asian Games, claims he has seldom seen the game-film of any of his performances.
“It’s always been a worry when our friends and well-wishers ask us where they can watch our games and we could never give them an option. I myself have just seen a glimpse of me in the highlights of the national games.
“So I think when the league gets shown live and then the games are replayed over the course of the year to a wider audience people will see how exciting volleyball is and there will be no going back,” says Jerome.
At least half-a-dozen more players from Kerala are expected to be part of the league and Akhin is hoping more youngsters will be attracted to the sport. “There is no doubt. Not just for our generation but for the juniors and those who find the sport exciting, this league will be a game changer. We often talk about going after dreams, don’t we? Here we have a dream,” Akhin says.
