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IOC Names Abhijit Bhattacharya 2025 Global GEDI Award Winner

The IOC recognized the former India captain for advancing girls’ participation in rural Assam through a village-based volleyball league.

Overview

  • Bhattacharya’s 2019 Assam Volleyball Mission 100 evolved into the community-run Brahmaputra Volleyball League spanning 158 villages across 28 Assam districts.
  • The league now engages over 12,000 children in more than 400 teams, staging local home-and-away matches for under-12 and under-16 girls’ and boys’ categories.
  • Participation rules require equal girls’ and boys’ teams, and gender-sensitive coach training has been credited with reducing dropout rates among teenage girls.
  • The programme has become a talent pipeline, supplying about 90% of players for Assam’s sub-junior and mini-state teams, with at least one athlete reaching an India camp.
  • Coach development received FIVB backing, including international qualifications for roughly 45 community coaches and 2023 training visits by Mariya Luis, Vladimir Grbic and Giba for 70 coaches.