Former American soccer player Julie Foudy had once said: “Sports build good habits, confidence, and discipline. They make players community leaders and teach them how to strive for a goal, handle mistakes, and cherish growth opportunities.” And the district police seem to have taken a cue from this quote.
For the first time in the Visakhapatnam Agency, the police organised a flood-lit volleyball tournament on the eve of New Year.
And more importantly, the tournament was held at Nurmati in G. Madugula mandal, considered to be a Maoist stronghold and located in the Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB) region.
Nurmati was the place where Maoists detonated an IED in the first week of December during the PLGA Week and burnt two earth moving equipment in September, 2017.
“Holding a volleyball tournament in the night in the AOB region is a risky one as there is a considerable presence of Maoists in the area. But we want to infuse confidence in the tribal youth and bring them into the mainstream,” said SP Attada Babujee.
Over 3,000 youth along with their family members attended the tournament and 106 teams from 100 villages of various mandals such as Pedabayalu, G. Madugula, Munchingput, Chintapalli and Araku participated in it. Seeing the overwhelming response, the tournament was spread over a period of two days, and finals and semi-final matches were held till 3 a.m. on Tuesday. It was a festive atmosphere as the entire area, which normally plunges into darkness after sunset, was lit up with flood lights.
The village and the ground was teeming with people and it wore a ‘mela’ look, and the police even provided food for all the people. But all excitement was about the matches, said Kilo Surendra from G. Madugula.
Volleyball is the most popular sport in the Agency area, and almost every tribal hamlet has a makeshift volleyball court.
“It’s a good way to bid goodbye to the previous year and a bright beginning for New Year, as the sport of volleyball is like our religion and the tournament is well fought between the teams,” said Mr. Surendra.
The tournament was held under the banner ‘Yuva ho’ as a part of the community policing initiative of the police.
“With volleyball one can easily connect to a tribal youth and we want to establish that ‘connect’,” said Mr. Babujee.
Folk dances
The police also organised tribal folk dances such as ‘dhimsa’ to entertain the crowd and served some tribal delicacies. Kala Jatha team presented a few skits showcasing various government schemes.
To usher in New Year, the SP and his team cut over 10 cakes at the stroke of midnight and distributed them among the team members.
What surprised the police forces was the enthusiasm level of the tribal youth. Braving the midnight cold, when the mercury dropped to below 4 degree Celsius in most parts of the Agency, they played the game till 3 a.m.
Prize distribution
The first prize was bagged by Onuru village and the winners took home the trophy and a prize money of ₹50,000. The runners and second runners-up were given ₹15,000 and ₹10,000 respectively along with the trophies. The cash prize came as a surprise to the winners.
Mementos, volleyball kits and T-shirts were given away to the top 10 teams.
