CHENNAI: Everybody is getting their slice of the pie in the post-IPL world. The footballers have the Indian Super League, the shuttlers have the Indian Badminton League and the tennis stars have more than one IPL-style extravaganzas to choose from. India’s spikers, however, have to stand by and watch their peers earn a living from their sport, while they themselves trudge along in a world of financial insecurity.
“Take all the players who have represented India over the past 10 years. How many of them, do you think, have their own house or a car?” The number is miniscule, Kishore Kumar answers his own question. The former Indian international, while continuing his playing career with BPCL, has formed an association for spikers in Kerala, of which he serves as the secretary. He is perhaps more equipped than most to comment on how fragile the financial world of a volleyball player is.
“Those of us who net a job with BPCL or Railways can make a decent living out of this. For the rest, it is an uphill struggle. It does not help that most young spikers come from poverty. Very often, they have to stay there as well,” he says.
There was a time when India was counted among the best teams in Asia. Kishore minces no words while explaining why it is no longer the case. “There simply is no incentive to take up the sport today. If my kid comes up and says he wants to play volley, I will forbid it. I want him to have a good life.”
Consider the economics, or the lack of it, of a volley player’s life. The players currently turning out for various teams at the National Volleyball Championships are paid a measly sum of `300 per day.
Somebody lucky enough to turn out for India is likely to get paid around $15 a day when on tour. The junior national players, who usually lack any other financial inlet, get paid nothing. Even the IPL-formula that worked for kabbaddi players and footballers let the spikers down. The inaugural and only season of the Indian Volley League saw most players earn around `10,000 for a match. Many of them made less than `50,000 from the entire tournament.
Tamil Nadu ace Naveen Raja Jacob is still hopeful that an IPL-style league, if done right, can change things around. If it worked for kabbadi, then why can’t it work for volley? “There was talk of bringing it back this year. I don’t know if it will happen, but if it happens like the PKL or ISL, then it will be great for us,” he says.
Maybe a few more spikers will be able to afford their own houses then!