Pro Volleyball League 2019: 5 Takeaways from Season 1

4. India to be the next destination of foreign players

David Lee proved to be one of the crowd favourites in Kochi

Every franchise drafted two foreign players who came in with experience gathered from playing for their national sides as well as clubs around the world. David Lee, one of the most popular volleyball players in the world was the marquee signing for the Kochi Blue Spikers.

The way the league got kickstarted and gained huge popularity within the country, the foreign signees further validated the popular opinion, having shared that they have received positive responses from their friends back home. With the aid of social media and the digital domain, the league reached to the corners of the world, leading to wide interests from volleyball players and fans from different countries.

Paul Lotman of Calicut Heroes said, "I have spoken to some of my friends from the national team and they are all very interested. I can’t name anyone. But depending on what plans the league has for the next year, some of them might come down. The response has been great back home and one of the reasons is the kind of coverage the league is getting on TV."

Joy Bhattacharjya, CEO of the RuPay Pro Volleyball League added to it and said, "Around 100-150 players from abroad have enquired about how to get into the league."

While the plans for the second season of the league have already started floating around, it will not be a big surprise if we get to see more foreign players in action.

#3 India have players to become a major force in Asian Volleyball

It’s safe to say that the Indian national volleyball team has not made a lasting impact in the international or Asian stage until now. At the 2018 Asian Games, the Indian team lost at the pre-quarterfinals stage. However, with the platform being provided by the league, Indian players have managed to get noticed through their performances.

With match-winning performances and topping the charts in certain statistics, the Indian players have showcased that they are ready to take Indian volleyball to new heights.

Ajith Lal C finished the league as the Most Valuable Player

Jerome Vinith and Ajith Lal C finished as the second and third highest points scorers of the inaugural edition with 86 and 84 points respectively. Ajith was also the second-ranked in the most spike points, with a total of 74 points to his name.

Naveen Raja Jacob topped the serve points table with 17 points, followed by Karthik A (16 points) and Jerome Vinith (12 points).

These performances have definitely put India on the global map of volleyball.