Assam's grassroots volleyball tourney finale draws Olympic medalists, FIVB chief

Tezpur (Assam), Jan 24 (PTI) From Olympic medallists to top bosses of volleyball global body, players and administrators from different parts of the world converged in the northern Assam town of Tezpur on Friday to be a part of the ongoing finale of a grassroots-level tournament.

Olympic volleyball gold medallist Vladimir Grbic, silver medallist Eliezaveta Bracht and Federation Internationale de Volley Ball (FIVB) president Fabio Azevedo, among others, attended the second day's events of Brahmaputra Volleyball League (BVL) season 5 Super League Finals here.

Founded in 2020 by former India volleyball team captain Abhijit Bhattacharjya, the BVL is an initiative to popularise the sport and channelise youth energy into a positive mode at the grassroots level which has drawn global appreciation and support.

It has been officially recognised as a Silver Level Project by the FIVB Volleyball Foundation, which has pledged support across three areas of the league: advancing coaching programmes, enhancing match broadcasting and providing professional expertise to strengthen league operations.

Talking to reporters at the venue here, Azevedo said, "This is one of the best volleyball initiative in the world. BVL is impacting kids positively in the region and I am sure it can do more for the country and world." He maintained that the league has turned into a "global movement and is making the world a better place through sports".

Appreciating the involvement of local people as well as patrons and supporters across the country, many of them travelling to Tezpur for the final round, the FIVB chief said, "It is a fantastic event of collaboration, to see so many people being volunteers to help these kids play together and stick together." Among others attending the final league are Nootsara Tomkom, best setter, and FIVB World Grand Prix, Hitesh Malhotra, head of Volleyball Empowerment and NF Relations.

Guwahati-based author and journalist Mrinal Talukdar, who has 'adopted' one of the BVL teams, underlined the popularity of the league which has grown over the years.

"What began with 50 teams in season 1 had 400 teams competing in this edition (season 5). Over 900 matches have been played across the state and is culminating with the finale here," he said.

Explaining the competition format of BVL, Talukdar said the first stage involved teams of different villages competing in home and away matches with teams of other villages of the same district.

In the second phase, the winners of the districts compete among themselves after being divided into five zones, and the champions of the zonal-level competition, vie for the top honours at the super league finals.

"We will have four champion teams on Sunday – both boys and girls in under-16 and under-19 categories," Talukdar said.

"More than the competition, the league is about popularising sports among kids and channelising their energy into a positive and productive end. Once a village forms a team, they look for 'adopters' and we, the general public from different spheres of life, have come together to help these kids grow," he added. PTI COR SSG SSG RG