Spikers basking in the spotlight of PVL

Four Karnataka boys in the Bengaluru Torpedoes team term PVL as life-changing

Winds of change have blown over a sport that had been stagnant for decades. And the current lot of Indian volleyball players are benefitting from this breath of fresh air.

“It has been life-changing (experience) for small town boys like us,” said Vinayak Rokhade, a setter, about being a part of the Prime Volleyball League whose second season commenced here on Saturday.

The 29-year-old from Belagavi might as well have been speaking for other three Karnataka boys - Mangalore’s Sudheer Shetty, Hassan’s Tharun Gowda and Udupi’s Srajan Shetty - in the Bengaluru Torpedoes team.

The shared emotion of the quartet permeets across players from the country who for the longest of time have borne the brunt of internal disputes of the volleyball associations, both in Karnataka and nationally.

“Whatever we achieve has no value. But now, PVL has given us a new lease of life and we can think about making a name for ourselves,” said 23-year-old Tharun, an attacker.

Men’s volleyball in the country has a history of more than seven decades with three Asian Games medals. However, the sport has failed to go beyond its regional achievements and currently stands at no. 68 in the world ranking.

The professionally managed franchise league hopes to change the course of the trajectory. With financial benefits, education about different techniques and a chance to play with and against foreign players and coaches, the new avatar of the sport, all of them agree, will spur the next generation of spikers to take up the sport more seriously.

“Youngsters in the mix will bag opportunities that many of our predecessors never dreamed of," observed 25-year-old Sudheer, a middle blocker. "We begin playing in schools and get into colleges/ universities because of the game. If we are good enough, we end up getting jobs as well. But that’s the circle we cycled around until now without anybody thinking or dreaming beyond this system.”

With a big following for the sport at all levels in the country, the boys are familiar with playing among huge crowds. But the matches being telecast live on television apart from one of the go-to online media for all things volleyball - volleyballworld.com - live streaming the games on their website for the first time ever has instilled excitement among them.

“Imagine, anybody from anywhere in the world can watch us play. I hope I perform well because you never know what wonders that can do to my career,” said 20-year-old Srajan, a middle blocker and the youngest member of the Torpedoes.

The players have embraced the changing fortunes. The hope now rests on the volleyball community to strive for newer heights.