Volleyball gains popularity among Kashmiri youth

The game of Volleyball has become the latest point of attraction for the youth of Kashmir and college authorities of the local area are doing their part to promote the game in the region.

Altaf Rehman, who is a Physical Director of the local college in Srinagar, has said that in a time when kids are getting more inclined towards games like cricket and football they are trying to promote other sports and with the help of the government it would be an easy task to do.

"Children are more inclined towards cricket and football but we have taken up this task to promote others sports like table tennis and volleyball," Rehman said.

"Government has also supported our initiatives...through bodies like Youth Sports Council sports facilities are being provided, stadiums are being constructed which is encouraging the promotion of other sports," he added.

Players participating in the volleyball events, which are being organized by the college authorities, believe that promoting volleyball is a nice step as it would provide the players with a platform to prepare themselves for national and international level competitions.

Waqar Bashir, a volleyball player, informed that in Srinagar the popularity of Volleyball is way less than that of small villages. He asserted that if provided with proper support, one could easily find three to four national level players in every village of the region.

"This volleyball game is very interesting. In Srinagar, Volleyball is not very popular. In Bandipora, where I live, we play volleyball in every village. The players are of the international level there but they don't get any support," Bashir said.

"In every village, you will easily find three to four national players," he added.

Players demanded that government authorities should organize more and more tournaments in future for the benefit of youth and for the betterment of sports culture.