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Electric girls of Indian volleyball
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A few psychological sessions and a small shift to Pala have helped KSEB brew up a winning formula. It is now brimming with confidence, says STAN RAYAN
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AFTER IT suffered a straight sets loss to Southern Railway in the National Volleyball League late last month, a wise wag asked the KSEB team to go to the shrink.
"You've got some of the best players in the country, how come you crumble so often under pressure. You should meet a psychiatrist,'' he had said.
The KSEB girls did not exactly line up outside the shrink's door, but they were aware that their problems were all in the mind.
"I realised that whenever the KSEB girls played Railway, there was a certain fear factor inside. Just the way our national teams turn jittery whenever they are pitted against the Europeans,'' said the KSEB coach Sunny Joseph. To change this, Sunny, one of the few FIVB Level-II instructors in the country, took great pains to prepare the team psychologically.
"Sunny used to have two-hour sessions with the team every afternoon, explaining, analysing individual and team strategies and where and when the team tends to wobble. He also read out books on psychology,'' said former international Jaisamma Moothaden, the team's assistant coach.
The results were quick to follow. KSEB defeated Southern Railway in the finals of two recent all-India tournaments, at Iritty first and at the A. P. Kurian event in Angamaly last week.
"Two all-India titles and jolting Southern Railway in both finals...our team is on a high. Helping Kerala win the Senior National will be our next goal now,'' says the KSEB's creative Sports Co-ordinator R. Anilkumar, a former State basketballer.
A few wise moves earlier had moulded the team nicely. Since Kerala Sports Council's Sunny Joseph, who had coached the Kerala men to the Senior Nationals title twice a few years ago, was attached to the St. Thomas College sports hostel in Pala, the KSEB team management decided to shift the entire team from its headquarters Thiruvananthapuram to Pala a couple of months ago. "Individually, our team has always been good, but under Sunny it has gained a new confidence. I have been getting frequent feedback about the side from Sunny, he is quite good at analysing the team and plugging the weak points at the right time,'' said Anilkumar, who took a lot of pains to kick off a basketball revival in schools nearly a decade ago.
With four players, who were earlier on contract, joining the rolls of KSEB a few weeks ago, a lot of anxiety and worry have been washed away. "Since the girls had stayed back despite very good offers from the Railway, there was a lot of tension for there was a long delay in appointing them. There was also a lot of harassment from the girls' parents,'' said Jaisamma. But unlike the Railways the KSEB's juicy carrot for the patient wait was a posting in Kerala.
Jisha Thomas, a powerful attacker and currently one of the best in the country, was one such player who found the virtues of patience. Though she had been with the KSEB for nearly three years, she was given permanent job only a week ago. The Railway tried their very best to rope her, offering her very attractive terms, but Jisha, despite desperate for a job, found her home base sweeter. The KSEB team, a lovely blend of youth and experience, has now settled down nicely. The team's forte is attack, with counter-attackers Jisha Thomas and the young guest Aswini S. Kumar sparkling from the firing line. Salitha Prasad and Indian star P. V. Sheeba are the centre-blockers, while experienced setters Mercy Antony and Minimol and shrewd libero Vincy George combine nicely with the side.
"Jisha is quite aggressive, but sometimes she concedes a lot of negative points. I would rate Railway's Geetha Raju as the best attacker in the country currently and Jisha should be number two,'' says Sunny.
"But the new star Aswini, who comes from the Sports Authority of India's Kollam centre, should easily outshine the two in a couple of years. At nearly six feet, the junior international has great reach,'' opines the coach. The Railway is now keen on `bagging' Aswini, the only KSEB player on contract now, but the young star, according to Jaisamma, wants to stay back in the State.
"The Railway, which fielded three teams at the recent National League in Renukoot, and KSEB are the only institutions which appoint women volleyballers now,'' says Jaisamma. The two institutions are now keen to join hands and raise the standard of the women's game in the country.
"We plan to spot talent and organise joint camps. That way the effort will be bigger and better and, hopefully, more fruitful too,'' says Jaisamma, an executive committee member of the Volleyball Federation of India and a national selector.
A few spectacular performances have given men's volleyball in the country a big boost. The Indian boys' recent triumph in the Asian Youth Championship in Visakhapatnam should be another step in the men's steady climb up the Asian ladder. Given proper encouragement and exposure, the women could emulate the men, feels Jaisamma.
With many institutional teams like the KSRTC, Kerala Police (spearheaded by the legendary K. C. Elamma, an Arjuna Awardee), Kerala P & T (made up of contract players) and Kerala Transport Company being disbanded, KSEB is now the only institution in the State, which promotes the game in a big way. And after its recent run of success, the next aim of the side is to make it a consistent one. "Bringing the Senior National title to Kerala is also one of our goals for the KSEB is a top contributor to the State women's team,'' says Anilkumar.
The new goals, if they materialise, could even brighten up KSEB's poor image. With its `speedo' meters, poor planning, frequent power cuts and slow response to desperate calls, KSEB does not exactly have a friendly face. Add the poor annual results to these and you have the face of a big loser.
Well, the new `Electric Girls' of Indian volleyball could soon give the KSEB a winning face.
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