Prime Volleyball League: Hyderabad Black Hawks’ Amit Gulia aims to learn from foreign players

The
23-year-old
athlete
from
Jhajjar,
Haryana,
will
be
featuring
for
the
Hyderabad
Black
Hawks
and
expressed
his
excitement
over
sharing
the
change
room
with
foreign
players
in
his
team
and
learning
tricks
of
the
trade
from
them.

Luis
Antonio
Arias
Guzman
from
Venezuela
(Universal)
and
Henry
Bell
from
Cuba
(Attacker)
are
the
top
three
players
the
franchise
has
roped
in
ahead
of
the
PVL
2022
season.

“The
Prime
Volleyball
League
will
provide
a
great
platform
to
the
volleyball
players,
wherein
they
can
showcase
their
talent.
There
will
be
foreign
players
as
well
and
we
have
a
foreign
coach
in
Ruben
Wolochin
from
Argentina
as
well.
We
will
get
to
learn
a
lot
while
playing
with
the
foreign
players,”
said
Gulia,
who
was
acquired
for
Rs.
10
lakh
in
the
Prime
Volleyball
League
Auction
held
earlier
this
month.

Gulia,
who
works
for
the
Income
Tax
Department
in
New
Delhi
when
he
is
not
practising
or
playing
volleyball
tournaments,
spoke
about
his
journey
in
the
sport
so
far,
“I
started
playing
volleyball
in
Sirsa,
Haryana
in
2008.
I
came
across
volleyball
while
I
was
studying
in
a
boarding
school
there.
I
was
in
the
4th
or
5th
standard.

First,
I
played
for
my
school
team
and
then
played
age-group
national
tournaments.
Thereafter,
I
participated
in
my
first
Senior
Nationals
in
2016
(Haryana
team).
Two
years
later,
I
played
for
the
Indian
team
for
the
first
time
and
I
am
currently
in
the
national
side.”

The
Attacker
added
that
he
was
also
part
of
the
Gold
Medal-winning
Indian
team
at
the
South
Asian
Games
in
2019
in
Kathmandu,
“I
have
played
in
the
2018
Asian
Games
and
I
led
the
Indian
side
to
a
Silver
Medal
at
the
U-23
Asian
Championship
in
2019
in
Myanmar.
I
was
also
part
of
the
Gold
Medal-winning
team
at
the
South
Asian
Games
in
2019
in
Kathmandu.”

When
asked
about
the
hardships
he
has
faced
during
his
pursuit
to
become
a
volleyball
player,
the
23-year-old
said,
“Volleyball
is
an
indoor
sport
and
whichever
competition
we
play
in;
it
is
held
in
an
indoor
stadium.
The
issue
is
that
there
are
not
too
many
indoor
stadiums
for
us
to
practice
in.
We
get
to
practice
in
indoor
stadiums
when
we
are
in
the
Nationals
camps,
but
otherwise,
we
have
to
train
outdoors.
The
Prime
Volleyball
League
will
also
give
us
an
opportunity
to
carry
out
our
practice
sessions
in
indoor
stadiums.”

Gulia
also
spoke
about
how
he
oscillates
between
working
for
the
Income
Tax
Department
and
playing
volleyball
professionally.

“I
get
enough
time
to
practice
since
I
got
this
job
through
sports
quota.
When
I
am
not
playing
tournaments
or
practicing,
I
work
for
the
Income
Tax
Department.
I
work
for
around
1-2
weeks
every
month.
I
also
play
for
the
department
in
tournaments
held
only
for
Civil
Services
departments,”
the
Attacker
signed
off.

The
Prime
Volleyball
League
will
be
telecast
on
the
Sony
TEN
1,
Sony
TEN
2,
Sony
TEN
3
and
Sony
TEN
4
along
with
Sony
LIV
and
the
viewers
will
also
have
an
opportunity
to
watch
their
favourite
sport
in
their
regional
languages.

The
Prime
Volleyball
League
is
exclusively
marketed
by
Baseline
Ventures,
the
leading
sports
marketing
firm
in
the
nation.
RuPay,
the
first-of-its-kind
Global
Card
payment
network
from
India,
has
come
on
board
as
the
Title
sponsor
of
the
Prime
Volleyball
League
and
Fantasy
games
leaders
A23
have
signed
on
as
“Powered
By”
sponsors
in
a
multi-year
deal.