BVL kicks off to promote volleyball at grassroot level

The brand new volleyball league, the Brahmaputra Volleyball League (BVL) has kicked off in the north-eastern state of Assam yesterday in a bid to identify the talented players from the grass root level of the country.

Set up under the Assam Volleyball Mission 100, the BVL aims to promote volleyball in the remote areas of Assam. It is also the first time ever such an initiative has been taken in the country in order to promote the sport of Volleyball.

The league is set-up by former Indian volleyball skipper, Abhijit Bhattacharya to bring out rural talent of the country. Abhijit started playing the sport in 1988 and went on the lead the country between 2003 to 2005.

Even after his retirement, Abhijit has been associated with the sport and tries to promote it in whichever way possible. Before the coronavirus imposed lockdown, he used to run a popular academy in Tezpur which had youngsters from across the state coming to train under his watchful eyes. During the lockdown he started with ‘Abhijit Bhattacharya’s Virtual Volleyball Academy’ which had almost 30 kids from three tea gardens of Assam enrolled to pick up his brains on the game.

The BVL has found some great support in the form of star sprinter Hima Das, badminton star AparnaPopat, table tennis player Monalisa Mehta and others.

“Really happy to unveil the logo of Brahmaputra Volleyball League, a first of its kind initiative to promote sports at grassroots level in my home state Assam. The logo with the girl spiking the ball across the Brahmaputra Valley gives a loud, clear and positive message," Hima Das had tweeted some time back, promoting the league.

The BVL will be spread over 16 districts of Assam with 32 boys and 17 girls team to participate in the league. The league will consist of 144 matches and will run for around 3 months with prize money of INR.2 lakhs.