Hawks’ eye view of budding stars

HYDERABAD: Bir Singh Yadav is a man with a vision. In charge of the Black Hawks Hyderabad franchise in the inaugural edition of the Premier Volleyball League, the India coach has set his sights on youth. The average age of the side they have picked is 23. Seven of the 12 players are part of the national camp.

This is different from some of the other teams, who have gone for experience. Talking to Express about his team’s strategy, Yadav said this has been done so that they can reap the benefits for a longer time. “As the head coach, when I sat down to select the players, one of my primary objectives was to keep an eye on the future. These boys will definitely go on to represent the senior national side one day. And since seven of them are already part of the national camp, they are almost as good as the seniors. I have been observing them closely for a long time,” the coach said on Thursday.

Two attackers — Amit Kumar and Rohit Kumar — have already represented the senior national side. The duo, who are under 21, were in Indonesia for last year’s Asian Games as well. A few others have played for the India U-21 side. “Youngsters can push the limit. There are many who can give seniors a run for their money because of their supreme fitness. A vastly experienced international may not be able to attempt certain shots because the body will not allow him to do so. This is where these young guns come in, as their reach and jump is better,” Yadav opined.

Last May, after almost two years’ of suspension by FIVB (world body), the Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) was reinstated. The coach believes these youngsters have the capability to set the national team on the right track. “We were 22nd or thereabouts in world rankings when the federation was suspended. In two years, we slipped to the mid-thirties because we did not play. With a bunch of boys as talented as these, regaining that ranking does not seem that difficult,” Yadav opined.

The Black Hawks will be led by USA’s Carson Clark, who was a member of the 2014 FIVB World League team that won a gold medal. The 29-year-old reiterated what Yadav said. “I was sceptical before I joined. I did not know what to expect. But first day into training, and I was like ‘Wow! These guys are really good’,” said Clark, who plays as universal.

The team got together for the first time on January 23, and has been training five hours every day since. Canadian attacker Alex Badder is the other foreign signing. “We gelled so well in a matter of days. When I played with them, I did not feel that these guys had not even played for the senior national team,” Clark said.