The Prime Volleyball League, the first of its kind in the country, will begin in Kochi on February 5. The country’s earlier attempt at a professional volleyball league, the Pro Volleyball League, ran for only one season (in 2019) owing to issues with the Volleyball Federation of India.
Seven teams will be fighting for honours this time — Calicut Heroes, Kochi Blue Spikers, Ahmedabad Defenders, Hyderabad Black Hawks, Chennai Blitz, Bengaluru Torpedoes and the Calcutta franchise — Kolkata Thunderbolts.
Modelled on the lines of the immensely popular Indian Premier League, the volleyball tournament comes with the vision of popularising the sport in the country. The players and officials of the Kolkata Thunderbolts are extremely satisfied with the way the team has shaped up.
It was only on Monday that the players got together in Kochi where they will practise at an indoor stadium and have been put up at a nearby resort. One of the main players of the Thunderbolts, Vinit Kumar, is looking ahead with excitement.
“The league brings a lot to volleyball in the country and the foreign players will give us much-needed exposure and add that extra zing to the game,” Vinit, a member of the national team since 2016 and a former India captain, told The Telegraph.
Till they got together in Kochi, Vinit was preparing in his home town in Muzaffarnagar with local players and ensuring that his fitness stays in place.
“I’d invite fans to come and watch the game… it will encourage us to play and they too will understand it will be quite an engrossing league. It will also encourage many youngsters to take up the sport,” said the 6’5”-tall player who plays in the universal position.
The team has roped in Abhijit Bhattacharya as its mentor. Apart from being a former India captain, Abhijit has been in the news for his role in the Brahmaputra Volleyball League (BVL), which revolutionised the sport among Assam’s youth.
Currently in its second season, the league involves around 2200 players across 209 teams from 93 villages in 28 districts. Abhijit, the only player from Assam to have played for India, “always dreamt of providing a platform to the rural children of Assam as they get no exposure”.
“Ninety per cent of these children are playing for a team or wearing a personalised jersey for the first time,” he added.
Coming back to the Thunderbolts, Abhijit has been hands-on from the beginning, from deciding on coach Sunny Joseph and assistant coach Siju Joseph to selecting the players at the auction.
“The team combination is perfect. We have two competent India players in Vinit and Ashwal Rai and two strong international players in Ian Satterfield and Matthew August.
“It will be a tough contest and definitely boost the popularity of the game in the country,” he added.
Prime Volleyball League CEO Joy Bhattacharjya explained why he thought the league would be of interest. “Volleyball’s biggest advantage over almost every other sport is that it is played equally in the rural and urban areas. It is a resource-poor sport, all you need is a rope and a ball and hence a level of interest in the game is already there,” Bhattacharjya said.
“And together with some of the top Indian players, players from the US, Cuba and Argentina with definitely make this a league to watch out for.”
Everyone is unanimous in their opinion that the Thunderbolts have played the auction card well and have a well chosen set-up. They indeed seem strong contenders for the inaugural title.
