Kolkata Thunderbolts has been a successful side in the Prime Volleyball League. The team owned by Pawan Patodia won the inaugural edition of the league last year. The second edition of the league took place in March this year and the team made it to the knockout but couldn’t go past the semifinal. Apart from giving consistent performances on the court, the Kolkata based-franchise also has taken up several grass-root initiatives to attract youngsters to the sport. Pawan Patodia’s son, Sumedh Patodia, who is the Team Director, in an exclusive chat with InsideSport spoke about the Volleyball Ecosystem in the county, his team’s initiatives to popularise the sport and future plans.
“Ecosystem in India strong enough for growth of Volleyball,” says Kolkata Thunderbolts Director Sumedh Patodia
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The Prime Volleyball League has been playing a major role in creating a right ecosystem for the sport to develop in the country. “The current volleyball ecosystem in India is strong enough to provide a good base for the sport to be grown exponentially. Local clubs, district level competitions, the entire infrastructure is in place,” believes Sumedh Patodia.
However the Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) is currently not recognised by the government and that brings with it some challenges. “Public sector jobs have been unavailable to volleyball players for the last couple of years. We were able to convince the Indian Olympic Association to intervene in a specific instance in West Bengal,
and assist a female player in securing a job she deserved as per the criteria set forth by the government. But at large, there still lays a massive gap to be addressed,” he added.
Grassroot Development
With a vision to make Volleyball a household sport, Sumedh Patodia has initiated several grassroot outreach programs in the team’s home State West Bengal. The Thunderbolts Cup is one among those initiatives. It is a local Volleyball Tournament that is organised between 48 puja committees across 23 Districts in the state.
There is a separate Thunderbolts Cup tournament for both Men and Women. Matches are also organised between schools, colleges, communities and clubs in the name of Thunderbolts Derby.
Speaking about how the response to Volleyball has been so far from the State that has special affinity to Football, Sumedh Patodia said, “West Bengal, as you rightly pointed out, has a strong following of Football. But it also does enjoy a deep and long standing history with Volleyball.”
“There are more than 540 registered Volleyball clubs in and around the state, and my vision entails reaching the furthest corners of the state with the necessary resources to improve the level of sporting skill in the players,” he added.
Thunderbolts Training Camp
One of the newest initiatives of the Kolkata Thunderbolts is the Thunderbolts Training Camp. Sumedh Patodia, who is an MBA Graduate, elaborated on it by stating, “The concept was created by me taking inspiration from the classic pyramid model we study in businesses. We receive invitations from local sports organizations and bodies across the state who are willing to coordinate our activities on the ground. They provide us with a list of 50 players in a specific area
who will participate in the camp.”
“Once all the details are verified and approved, our head coach, Kamar Ali Khan, travels to the area and conducts a 5 day long camp with 2 sessions each day for the players. All the 50 players attending the training camp will be provided with necessary resources for practice that includes better nutrition meals,” he said.
He further added, “Even after the duration of the training camp, two local coaches from the area will continue to make the players practice. ” So far 11 such camps have been organized in different districts of the state so far.
“There are plans to organise five more camps. Once we conduct 16 camps, plan is to have a mega 2 week camp for players selected from across these 16 camps. Also once we finish the lap of 16, we’re going to start expanding the scope of the campaign to neighboring states as well, particularly Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and Assam,” said Sumedh.
In a first for Indian Volleyball, the country is all set to host the Club World Championship for the next two years. The first edition in India is set to be held in December this year. “I think it is a phenomenal initiative because it ties us to the global volleyball community. It creates that aspirational value that is required in a sport for a mass following to occur,” he said.
“I believe it is a good step in the direction of international exchange of knowledge and technical expertise in the sport of volleyball. We are also working extensively in opening the doors for global exchange with Indian Volleyball, to further our cause of volleyball promotion in India. The Club World Championship being hosted in India is a major step in that direction,” he concluded.
“Ecosystem in India strong enough for growth of Volleyball,” says Kolkata Thunderbolts Director Sumedh Patodia
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