Craze for volleyball had been diminishing with time but PVL will reignite interest, says Amit Gulia
In 2019, Amit Gulia was the captain of the India U-23 side that won a silver medal in the Asian Championships. Now at 23, Amit is set to feature as one of India’s most expensive players in the upcoming edition of the Rupay Prime Volleyball League for the Hyderabad Black Hawks. He will be sharing the court alongside the likes of Luis Arias and Henry Bell and Amit believes that it is a very exciting prospect.
“Our preparations are going very well. One of the plus points for us is that our foreign players joined us very well in advance. Our first match is against Kochi and our team is quite strong. So, we’re ready,” Amit told Hindustan Times in an exclusive conversation.
“One player is attacker (Henry Bell) and other is all-rounder (Luis Arias). Both are very good players and we’re hoping to get success with them.”
The Rupay Prime Volleyball League, which begins on February 5, has a unique 15-point system. The international scoring rules mandate that the first team to score 25 points are awarded the set; the fifth set, if necessary, is played for 15 points. When asked if the change in format also brought a certain change in preparations, Amit said that he has had prior experience of playing in such a format.
“In 15 points, the game gets quite fast. We’ve done specific training considering that and we have adapted ourselves to that. I don’t think that it would be an issue because we’ve played in 15 points before as well,” said the 23-year-old player from Haryana.
“International is 25 points only. But I think the 15 points is done considering how the other leagues across multiple sports are being played. It gets more interesting to to watch a fast-paced game.”
National Camps ‘only held before particular competition’
The Rupay Prime Volleyball League comes as a much-needed boost to the players like Amit, for it is difficult to get regular match practice in uncertain Covid times.
“It becomes challenging. We are getting good competition right now. In non-league days, it does get difficult. But we try our best to remain fit at home with regular training,” said Amit.
The 23-year-old, who plays as an outside-hitter, also believes that an extended calendar would provide greater exposure to the Indian players. “Yes, because right now every team is playing against each other only once. Once the calendar extends, the matches will be more as well.”
Talking about his journey in Volleyball, Amit opened up on his introduction to the sport and further talked about the historic U23 triumph.
“I started playing in 2008. I started playing in a Sirsa hostel. I went there for study purposes and there, a coach said that my height was very good. Although, I started playing it solely for entertainment purposes that time!” said Amit.
Amit represented his school team and graduated to age-group national tournaments, owing to impressive performances. He took part in his first senior nationals in 2016 for Haryana and two years later, earned his maiden international age-group call-up.
In 2019, Amit led the Indian U-23 team to an Asia Volleyball Championship silver medal. “We had our camp in Patiala. We had a 2-month camp. All the players were very good and many of them now play for the senior team. I was the captain and I had the responsibility to play well. Thankfully, we did that and we won the medal.”
However, when asked if such camps are scheduled regularly, Amit's reply was in the negative. “These camps only take place before a tournament. There is no schedule as such. These are only held before a particular competition,” said the Indian youngster.
League will ‘reignite’ interest
Amit says that there will be “reignited interest” for the sport among the young players and those watching on the television because of the Rupay Prime Volleyball League.
“I believe Prime Volleyball is very important for players. Because, the craze for volleyball had been diminishing with time. With this league, there will be reignited interest among young players and they will realise that there’s a future in this game. We will get a lot of exposure and experience while playing this as well. There is a foreign coach in the team as well, so that is also going to play an important role,” said Amit.
Amit's Hyderabad Black Hawks is coached by Argentina's former Volleyball player Ruben Wolochin, who has worked with various sides in Europe in over a 30-year long career.
Watch Rupay Prime Volleyball League 2022 Live on SONY TEN 1 (English), SONY TEN 3 (Hindi), SONY TEN 4 (Tamil & Telugu) & SONY TEN 2 (Malayalam) channels from 5th February 2022.
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