Cuncolim Union has volleyball heads on a spin

Strategic planning helps a game evolve from it’s slumber. After years of fascinating Goans, volleyball arose. And as a game , it did so with panache. There were many who might have had a wish to contribute .Amongst them, was a man with a vision. He is Elvis Gomes, the president of Cuncolim Union – the club that recently hosted the all India invitational volleyball tournament.

To start with , volleyball lovers from Cuncolim had a fill of the game. The stands were almost always full .It was just not good volleyball. But , watching some of the best Indian players in action , was a thrill.

Joe Thomas, the captain of the India team played in full force. So did Y Subba Rao and many players from Haryana, Dehradun and Kerala. For many it was not the first time in this state. However, the memories they took back and left behind will linger on for  months to come.

“Volleyball needs sponsorship to survive. It needs coaching centers. There are many states in India that have such centres. If Goa has even one, it will help a lot”, says Joe Thomas, the captain of India who donned the colours for BPCL, Kerala. In twine with him was Y Subba Rao – a central blocker who delivered lethal smashes whenever asked to do so.:players need to get jobs. Sponsors are a must”, admits Subba Rao.

There was a time in Goa when volleyball was played from Morjim to Cavelossim.The game traversed through almost all the villages. The floodlights came on and the machines of the sport began to roll. One of the main proponents was the late Ramesh Borkar from Mala , Fontainhas. He was a player par excellence who outshone not only in Goa but in India too. “Discipline has to be injected into the game again.Only then can we think of sponsors coming forward,” argues Hugo Gonsalves , vice president of the Goa Volleyball Association(GVA).

One of the problems facing the game in Goa is the lack of a league. And the Cuncolim Union president was not wrong when he threw in a challenge to the GVA to organise a league in Goa. “ I don't have to be the President of GVA to revive volleyball. I threw a challenge to the GVA to revive volleyball since the President and both Vice Presidents and GVA office bearers were present at the finals. Without a league, how can the sport flourish?. There are many players of yester years who are willing to come forward. The ball lies in the GVA court and I had said the same thing when I was the Executive Director of the SAG”, stated Elvis Gomes. “A good league will throw up players who will attract sponsors. Let a beginning be made first”, he added in the same tenor.

Yes. Gomes is right. To revive the game in Goa, the tone has to be set. It has been set by Gomes’s club. Will the GVA sustain it? Or will it end up as another million dollar question in sport?