Volleyball melas are being organised across Jharkhand from October onwards to promote the game.
Jharkhand Volleyball Association (JVA) has asked all 24 district affiliates to organise melas, that can be in the form of training camps or tournaments, in their respective areas at intervals of three months.
The East Singhbhum District Volleyball Association (ESDVA) has planned a training camp in mid-October. "We and other district affiliates have been asked by the state association to organise a mela. We have planned a training camp in mid-October which will conclude in two-three days. The Covid-19 pandemic has kept our spikers indoors for a year now," said association secretary Rajeev Mishra.
According to him, since the
Covid situation is under control in Jharkhand, they would soon identify a venue for conducting the training camp for sub-junior, junior and senior players. It is a good step taken by JVA as melas will help in promoting and popularising volleyball across the state," Mishra added.
The East Singhbhum district association holds training camps and tournaments at JRD Tata Sports Complex and R.D. Bhatta Community Centre at Bistupur. District volleyball outfits have come up with impressive performances in state championships. Some spikers regularly earn berths in state teams for national competitions.
It started with a separate tournament for girls over two years back. The tournament received a good response. "We have serious plans to promote girls and the tournament we hosted two years back was intended to development interest for volleyball among girls," Mishra said
The district association also plans to host the state youth (Under-21) tournament in January-February next year. "The pandemic has affected all our programmes. Otherwise we organise tournaments at regular intervals. The game is popular in the steel city and there is no dearth of facilities," the ESDVA secretary added.
Chatra District Volleyball Association is organising an open tournament to mark the mela. "The tournament will be for different age groups. The dates are yet to be finalised but the tournament will be organised sometime in the third week of October," an official said.
