By Manoj Kar
Kendrapara (Orissa), April 25: Overcoming poverty they toiled with missionary zeal. With mission more or less accomplished, a group of village boys and girls have scripted yet another sporting success story in a remote countryside of this coastal district.

After little girl children bringing laurels to this region by securing their berth in country's women's football XI, more than two dozen of boys and girls from obscure Kurujanga village have smashed their way success in volleyball court.

The cluster of villages in and around Kurujanga under Derabish block is churning out talented volleyball players since past three years. As things stand today, as many as 14 youths from this region represent the state volleyball teams in various age groups.

As the District Sports Officer Rashmi Ranjan Samantaray put it, “it's a silent revolution that is sweeping across these villages. This village is destined to produce more and more talents in coming days as volley game fever has gripped the village boys and girls”.

Nine volleyball players from their area have got jobs in Orissa Police, CRPF and CISF on the sports quota. The list also includes two girls.

In an area where there is visible presence of poverty and backwardness, absorption in government jobs worked wonder. Parents who were initially reluctant began to send their children to volley court.

Of course the Department of Sports extended minimum requirements like the ball, nets and stand posts initially. They provided them with Rs 12,000 financial grants to promote these youths.

But real credit for the success story goes to Narayan Barik, a lawyer by profession. It was he who mobilised the local boys and girls and brought them to the volley court.

Barik himself played volley in school days. After the Sports Department extended support, he inspired a select group to try their luck in volley.

It all started on 2003. The physical education teacher of nearby government-run Maruti High School , Banamber Jena lent helping hand to Barik in accomplishment of his mission.

The duo trained the group in a professional manner. After rigorous practice, the entire group merited selection in the district volleyball team. Since then, they never looked back.

The successful boys and girls from this area who represented the seniors and different age group state teams are Swapna Sundar Biswal, Mihir Nayak, Deepak Behera, Minati Sahu, Hiranyamayee Dhal, Suvalaxmi Mohanty, Arnapurna Parida, Jalirani Das, Pranati Rout, Jhansirani Das, Bandita Sahu, Swarnamayee Samal, Jharana Lenka and Jinu Sahu.

“I was impressed by the tall and athletic physical feature of quite a few youths from the villages. In fact, all those well built are evincing keen interest in volley. We have now a cluster of 40 to 50 boys and girls showing immense promise. If nurtured properly, they have the potential represent the country,” said Barik, the chief patron of the game in this part.

“It's a team effort. The hard work of the enthusiast youths, our inspiration besides promotion of the game by the sports wing of the administration have led the way for success.

“But my mission is yet to be achieved. None from our bunch of talented youngsters have got the selection to represent national team. There is still a lot of room for improvement to hone their skill,” Barik observed.