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Catching them young
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Kalady Volleyball Club held a training camp for youngsters
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PLAY BALL Kalady Volleyball Club is the nursery for budding volleyball players
Residents of Kalady share two hobbies - politics and volleyball. If the former doesn't unite them, volleyball certainly does.
The crowded locality is the hub of volleyball activities in the city. The annual Kalady volleyball tournament conducted by the Kalady Volleyball Club (KVC) is a crowd puller and most of the matches are played to packed galleries.
Former titans
Former greats like Udaykumar, Cyril C. Valloor and Abdul Razak had played in the tournament at their peak.
The KVC has produced many State and university stars and is the nursery for budding volleyballers in Thiruvananthapuram district.
The KVC recently celebrated its 70th anniversary and held a summer coaching camp to mark that occasion. Although the club conducts an annual coaching camp every year, it was for the first time that the club decided to give specialised coaching to select talents.
Fifty players, below the age of 18 and with a minimum height of 170 cm, were chosen from over 100 aspirants who attended the selection trials, which were held on February 25.
The players underwent coaching for 45 days at the Kalady volleyball stadium under the watchful eyes of Kerala State Sports Council coach, Harilal.
The coaching sessions were for two hours in the morning and evening. The trainees were taught the basics of the game and the rules of the game. The entire expenses were met by the KVC.
Medical camp
A medical camp was held for the trainees in association with Al-Arif Hospital. Former international Udaykumar, Kerala University coach Surendran and Kerala State Sports Authority's technical officer Sree Kumar held inter-active sessions and shared their experiences with the youngsters.
The KVC president P.K. Unnikrishnan said the promising players from the camp would be selected for a long-term coaching programme of the club.
The selected players will train with the club players and will be given all facilities and encouragement to excel, he added.
The overwhelming success of the camp has encouraged the club to make it a yearly affair and it augurs well for the game that has taken a back seat in the district in wake of the growing popularity of cricket.
M.R. PRAVEEN CHANDRAN
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Mangalore
Pondicherry
Tiruchirapalli
Thiruvananthapuram
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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