Kerala State Volleyball Association

District Level Tournament at Vengeri

A two-day district-level volleyball tournament for the Madhurakkandy Ashokan memorial ever-rolling trophy, being organised by the Vengeri Recreation Centre, will begin at the Thanneerpanthal floodlit grounds at Vengeri in Kozhikode district at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. Kozhikode North MLA A. Pradeepkumar would inaugurate the tournament, said the organisers in a press release issued here. Arjuna Award winner and former Indian captain Tom Joseph and volleyball coach E. Achuthan Nair, among others, would be present.

Remembering Jimmy

At age 21, Jimmy George was the youngest volleyball player to win the Arjuna Award. He was given the G.V. Raja Award in 1975 and won the Manorama Award, for the best sportsman of Kerala, in 1976. He was judged the best player in the Gulf Region while playing for Abu Dhabi Sports Club, from 1979-82. He played as a professional in Italy from 1982-1984 and 1985-1987, and in his prime was considered one of the best attackers of the world. In 2000, Malayala Manorama, a newspaper in Malayalam.

In-born Talent

Jimmy in full flow was truly an amazing sight. With an absolute jump of around 110 cms, Jimmy had a superb reach. Often, he appeared to be floating over the shoulders of his teammates. “His reach was 12 feet, it was in-born talent, given by God, he did not do any special exercise to attain this sort of jump or reach,” said Sebastian. Sebastian cherishes the last game he played against Jimmy. ”

Women in Kerala Volleyball

Thiruvananthapuram's women's team which is one of the strongest teams in the country. Though the KSVA authorities have been claiming that necessary steps were taken to promote volleyball in the state, some districts like Idukki and Alappuzha don't have senior women's teams."How can we field teams if we don't have players? Some schools have sub-junior volleyball teams but we don't have quality senior players to take part in the state championship.