Sarakhadi village in Gujarat’s Gir Somnath district, with a population of 5,000, has set an inspiring example in the sport of Volleyball.
Varjangbhai Vala, who was a school physical training teacher at that time, thought that their village had good potential for Volleyball due to its high average height and proximity to the sea coast.
He started encouraging and training girls and boys in Volleyball in the early '80s.
The fruits of these consistent efforts began to show after a few years. In 1990, for the first time, Sarakhdi girls represented their district at the state level.
However, for Vala, there were a series of challenges, starting with persuading conservative village parents to send their daughters to play in out-of-town tournaments.
Convincing families to allow girls to wear t-shirts instead of traditional attire was another hurdle.
The girls, wearing t-shirts, ghaghras, and slippers, often looked out of place at tournaments.
However, Vala overcame these obstacles by sending his own daughters and girls from his family into the sport.
Today, out of 300 girls and boys from the village sent to national level competitions, 65 have won national medals.
The town has also produced four international players, two of whom captained the Indian team.
Vala’s daughter, Kinjal, captained Team India at the 10th Asian Youth Girls Tournament in Thailand in 2014, and his niece, Chetna Vala, captained at the BRICS 2019 tournament in China.
Both also played at the 18th Asian Junior Championship in Thailand.
The highlight was the 41st Junior National Volleyball Championship, where all six girls playing for Gujarat in the finals against Kerala were from Sarakhdi. The commentators called it a "Gaon versus State Mukabla."
“We have received considerable support from the Government and Sports Authorities. Currently, 12-14 players from Sarakhdi are under coaching with scholarships at DLSS (District Level Sports Schools) and 4-5 are under expert coaching at a nearby High School Academy,” Vala said.
Chetna Vala believes that “Modi government’s policies (during his tenure as CM) have provided much-needed impetus to sporting talents from the village.”
The 60-year-old Vala has retired now, but he still contributes as much as possible to the village and the sport.
An indoor facility for playing Volleyball and a good coach could elevate the talent of Sarakhdi to the next level.
If a social organisation or corporate entity adopts the village, the talents here have the potential to even send players to the Olympics.
With an MoU already signed by Senior Producer Shabbir Boxwala for making a Hindi movie about the village, it seems the power of Bollywood could open doors for Sarakhdi’s hidden talents.
Follow us
