She was the darling of Indian volleyball fans in the 1970’s and the 80’s. K.C. Elamma was also the biggest inspiration for many female players of Kerala, who all went on to make the State the superpower in Indian women’s volleyball.
Elamma, who was in Kozhikode for the National Games, is happy that there are far more girls in volleyball these days than her time. “When I began playing, as a member of the famous Namakuzhy ‘Sisters’ — we were not related by blood but belonged to the same locality near Kottayam — women’s volleyball was nowhere near as popular as it is today,” she told The Hindu . “It is great to see Kerala’s women dominating Indian volleyball.”
That fact was underlined yet again when Kerala won the gold in women’s volleyball at the National Games a couple of days ago. Elamma has a personal reason to be happy about that achievement; she was one of the selectors of the Kerala team.
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“A few players were not happy with the selection and had even filed a case at the High Court,” she said. “But we picked the best team. I don’t think any objective observer would fault us for our selection.”
The former Indian captain is a bit worried that the standard of the men’s game in the State is coming down. “That there is not even a single player from Kerala in the current Indian team is something you could not have imagined a few years ago,” said Elamma, who is the first woman, and the first volleyball player, to get Arjuna Award from Kerala.
“I think not as many young boys are willing to take up volleyball as a career because there are not enough incentives.”
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She believes volleyball needs a fillip. “The game has the potential to be much more popular than it is,” she said. “I think what we need is a top quality league, something like cricket’s IPL or football’s ISL.”
She feels such a league would transform Indian volleyball. “Look what the ISL has done to football in the country,” she points out. “Television plays a major role in promoting sports; kabaddi is a great example of that. The way Pro Kabaddi was welcomed by spectators was remarkable.”