Players, who represented both the nation and the city in various national and international tournaments and brought laurels by winning prestigious awards, are extremely disturbed at not being provided job opportunities by the UT administration.

Talking to mediapersons, Vijay Pal Singh, general secretary of Chandigarh Volleyball Association, rued the fact that while Chandigarh players were being offered jobs in Punjab and Haryana, the UT administration failed to recognise the achievements of players of the sport by not providing them with government jobs in Chandigarh.

“UT Administration notification says that 3 per cent UT jobs are reserved for players from Chandigarh, but this clause has not been implemented so far,” he said. He further stated that job applications of some of the players have been sent to the Chandigarh Police for their appointment in any post, “even for a post of a constable, though they deserve more”, but no response has come so far.

According to him, the lack of job prospects for the players is taking a toll on their morale. That has had an adverse effect on the performance of Chandigarh baseball team in the last national games, he said.

He added it was hard to attract players to represent Chandigarh team as they were being wooed by other states with lucrative jobs. “It becomes hard to ask the players to play for Chandigarh when they are getting incentives elsewhere,” Singh admitted. Moreover, women volleyball in the city has also suffered enormously with the closure of SAI run volleyball academy in Sector-18 that also had hostel facilities for women players.

Mohan Singh Nargetta, SAI volleyball coach who had earlier been associated with Shivalik Volleyball Academy as a coach and is still trying his best to revive the academy said, “If players have to struggle for jobs, no one will take up volleyball in future. If Chandigarh players get job in the city itself, they can represent the city and bring laurels in future,” he said.

Gurinder Singh, one of the talented players who has represented the city and the national team and won medals said, “We feel being let down as our achievements go unnoticed and hence unexploded.”

Balwinder Singh, another national player, echoed similar sentiments, “We need jobs to sustain our long term service to the game.”

D S Bedi, director and principal of Shivalik Public School promised all assistance to revive the fortunes of the game in the city. He said, “If SAI ties up with us, we can provide accommodation facility for men.”

He also informed that the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) would be approached on February 7 for their nod to initiate a 4-year integrated BPED (professional) course so that the students pursuing the course emerge as professionals. The eligibility criteria would be +2 and state or national representation.