Over 4,000 children have the opportunity to play volleyball as the community grassroots league inspires hope through sport in Assam, one of India’s poorest states
Abhijit Bhattacharya, a former captain of the India men’s national team, launched the Brahmaputra Volleyball League (BVL) in 2020, and it has since become on the of the biggest community grassroots leagues in the world, with over 4,000 children from across the state of Assam, India, having the opportunity to play volleyball.
The league was born from Abhijit’s desire to give back to his sport and to his home state of Assam. Abhijit himself credits Dibyajyoti Bhagawati, a volleyball coach, who saw his potential, despite never having the opportunity to play volleyball, while searching Assam for players.
“Volleyball changed my life and gave me a lot of opportunities, so I’ve always felt indebted to the game. I always wanted to give back to my state Assam,” said a smiling Abhijit.
“Initially the idea was to collect 100 balls and give them to rural villages that play volleyball. Through friends and well-wishers, we achieved this target within one month and we then had to consider the next objective.”
During COVID-19 pandemic, kids were learning volleyball online using self-made cloth balls
It was not long before Abhijit realised the full power of volleyball to unite and inspire individuals and communities. This is especially true for the youth in Assam, India, where the Brahmaputra Volleyball League (BVL) has become a beacon of hope and opportunity.
“In the few villages we had distributed the balls, kids had started getting interest in volleyball but COVID-19 stopped everything. Assam is famous for tea cultivation and normally the workers in the tea farms are poor so their children don’t have access to basic commodities,” commented Abhijit.
“When information reached me that one of the tea gardens was doing online classes for children for their school course work, I approached them with a view of coming up with a module for teaching volleyball basics online. I started training them online with cloth balls and would send them real balls after seeing their progress.”
Dhemaji Girls Under-21 team pose with the trophy after winning the second edition of Brahmaputra Volleyball League at a remote village in Assam state in India….
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