Volleyball players vie for the ball during a match in Ranchi. A Telegraph Picture

Ranchi, June 15: Absence of facilities, including training camps, in Jharkhand has marred the prospects of volleyball players at the national-level.

And this, girl participants of zonal youth volleyball camp that is being held in the city for the first time rue, is due to the apathetic attitude of the state government towards the game.

Coaches from Uttar Pradesh, who are attending the camp, said training camps and proper scrutiny are a must to churn out good players.

An interaction with the players from other states, some of whom have represented their states in national-level championships, revealed that similar is the case with in other states like Bihar and Chhattisgarh.

Lakshmi Kochina, who represents Chhattisgarh and has played at the national-level, felt that lack of training camps as well as equipment was a major bottleneck in the development of the game in her state.

?There are a lot of talented girls who are interested in playing volley, but absence of basic facilities discourage them,? added Kochina.

On the other hand, Kochina?s Bihar counterparts also echoed similar sentiment on being asked about the training facilities available in their state.

Sapna Kumar, who has represented twice at junior-level national tournaments, said there are players from Bihar who are keen to take up the game. But the lack of facilities as well as coaches dishearten them. ?One has to tap the potential to the maximum to extract the maximum results,? he said. ?I guess lack of interest of the authorities concerned is hitting volleyball players hard,? he added.

On the other hand, volleyball players from Jharkhand, who have been selected in the camp, said besides the centres being run by the Jharkhand Volleyball Association (JVA) on the RU premises and the Sports Authority of India, Ranchi, there are hardly any other centres which nurture volleyball talents.

But the JVA officials have been complaining time and again about the apathy of the state government.

?Unless the government gets serious about the game, one cannot expect performances from the players,? JVA officials said.

Sadhna Singh, assistant coach for the zonal camps, also stressed organising regular camps and proper scrutiny to churn out best talents.

The camp would continue till June 30. Such zonal camps are being organised every year in each and every zone comprising 16 players.

After these camps, a selected few girls are sent to the overall camps, from where the Indian team is picked.