For an indoor sport that requires negligible equipment, Volleyball is not yet a mainstream sport in India but with its popularity on the rise, largely due to the Pro Volleyball League. Volleyball has had a perennial issue of a lack of sponsorship, but the League has reinvigorated some life into the sport and has become a viable career option for Volleyball lovers.

In this exclusive interview with SPOGO, Chirag Yadav, an Indian professional Volleyball player who is the captain of the Under 20 and Gujarat team speaks about his journey so far, overcoming challenges, experience with the Black Hawks Hyderabad team, future goals and more!

Q 1) How did your journey in Volleyball begin and what motivated you to take up this sport professionally?

I started playing Volleyball in the village when I was younger. My elder brother used to play the sport quite well and people would compliment him a lot. I started playing Volleyball with him and then I went to Gujarat to play professionally from 2016.

Q 2) What are the challenges you had to overcome while pursuing Volleyball given the fact that it isn't a mainstream sport in India?

Yes, it's true that Volleyball is not a famous sport in India but I believe it will become popular in the coming years. The Pro Volleyball League has promoted the sport tremendously, the Indian team is performing really well so I’m confident more and more people are becoming aware of the sport of Volleyball. There are always challenges, people used to discourage me to pursue Volleyball professionally because it doesn’t have a lot of money or fame. The League had also stopped in the middle, so there were many difficult situations that I had to overcome.

Q 3) Tell us about your experience at the Pro Volleyball League with the Black Hawks Hyderabad team?

Playing with the Black Hawks Hyderabad team was a great experience for me. It was a good opportunity for me because I was the youngest player in the team, my seniors were also from different countries such as the USA and Canada and since the sport is more developed in those countries I could learn a lot from them. I benefited a lot from that experience because I also learned from Indian stars and it has improved my game.

Q 4) How was it leading the U-20 Indian Volleyball team in the Asian Men's U-20 Volleyball Championship in 2018 at Bahrain?

That was a different feeling altogether. Before the tournament, we had a 2 and half month camp where we used to practice for 9 to 10 hours on a daily basis. After so much hard work when the team is announced and if you make it into the team, you are already on top of the world. After announcing the team they announced me as the captain, I felt all my hard work was recognised and all of it had paid off.

Q 5) What was your reaction on being selected for the Senior Indian volleyball team for the Asian Championship?

It was an afternoon and as usual, I was sleeping when I received a letter from the federation. When I read it, I came to know that I had made it into the senior team. It was one of the happiest days of my life. I informed all my friends and family, everyone was very happy. I had worked so hard for that, It was a dream to play for the senior national team. When you finally achieve something after working hard for years the feeling is unreal.

Q 6) What are you next looking forward to in your career?

I want to be consistent in the senior team and keep performing at the top level. I want to win a medal with the national team at the Asian Games. I want to be a part of the World League and even make it into the Olympics in the future.