Noor ul Haq
Baramulla, Jan 24 (WS/VP) : To take up the road less traveled often leads to beautiful journeys and destinations. But the courage to walk that road comes from inspiration.
A young school going boy, in his first national school games volleyball camp, meets a Sports Authority of India trained coach for the first time, the term coach up until then was alien to him.
The boy was awestruck by his first coach and in his mind, he had decided that this is what he wants to become.
He had found his inspiration and now was the time to head to the road.
As destiny would have it for Abdul Majid Dar, no one, not even he himself, could have comprehended at that time that he would go on to become the first National Institute of Sports qualified Volleyball coach from the whole of Kashmir Province.
To put it in perspective Netaji Subhas National institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala is an academic wing of the Sports Authority of India and Asia’s largest Sports institute offering degrees and courses in various coaching and sports fields.
To bag a seat in such a coveted institute is never easy, you need to rise from the ranks, all the way from school nationals to senior nationals and then crack an entrance examination consisting of both theory and practicality of the game.
Coming from a small village Ferozpora, Rafiabad in Baramulla, in Kashmir would mean that he could only contact his friends and family through Letters and Telegrams from Patiala.
A village with a strong volleyball culture with many veterans of the game. One of the veterans from the village who played alongside Abdul Majid says, “we missed him in local tournaments during his tenure at NIS.”
He went on to narrate one of the incidents wherein Abdul Majid had joined mid match amid cheers and shouts, he went on to repeat the slogans in vernacular, “ow haa, ow haa” which roughly translates to “he is here, he is here”, almost warning the other team and in a sense shows his prowess as a player.
As Abdul Majid Dar, Manager J&K Sports Council, prepares to hang up his boots, he can be proud of his career spanning over 30 years as a coach.
In his own words though, “a sports person never retires, it is just stages that he undergoes.”
He had taken up sports as a career at a time when for everyone else it was just a recreational activity.
This required passion and absolute love for the game. He could not have achieved what he has, without guidance and support, even though they were minimal in the formal sense.
But he enjoyed being in the company of some wonderful players who inspired him. “I have seen veterans guiding us as players without any personal interests, just for the love of the game. They used to be so passionate”, says Abdul Majid.
Perhaps sports teach you, among many other things, to give back to society and perhaps those veterans had taught an important lesson to Abdul Majid. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he has guided countless players at various levels.
Many of them have gone on to represent Jammu and Kashmir at various levels and many have carved their ways to make a career in sports.
Achieving personal milestones is a different thing and leaving a legacy behind another. Once a proud and only NIS Alumnus in Volleyball from Kashmir Province, Abdul Majid was able to extend his alma mater in Kashmir when two of his trainees made it to the NIS- Muneer Alam a 2005 batch NIS qualified coach now serving as Volleyball coach in University of Kashmir and Rayees Ahmad a 2006 batch NIS qualified coach serving in the department of Physical education.
Muneer Alam recalls his days when in the evening he would rush to coaching classes at Bakshi stadium Srinagar while he was in college “Back then it was only Majid sir who would handle all of the Kashmir province in volleyball, we should give him the credit of developing players and coaches we have.”
Rayees on the other hand says, “I didn’t have an iota of idea about how the game is played until I joined the volleyball coaching camp conducted by Majid sir at Baramulla, it was in this camp Majid sir identified the setter in me.”
Rayees, just like his coach, came from a rural background and followed his coach’s footsteps.
“I believe it is not just teaching how to play the game inside the court, a coach plays a significant role in instilling values that develop your personality,” Rayees echo’s his coach.
He said that a sports person does not retire, it is just passing on and continuing the chain, players and coaches Majid sir guided are seeds and plants that continue to bear the fruits of his toil and belief.
Abdul Majeed said, “We have come a long way, when I used to play, volleyball was seen as an outdoor sport played in mud courts, there were very few people exposed to playing in indoor halls.”
He said that now the kind of infrastructure we have, and it continues to grow, players can relinquish the experience of games being played with almost international standards here in Kashmir as well.
“We have many Sports Authority of India designated centers wherein many of my mentees are now mentors and continue to polish players,” says a somewhat content, Abdul Majid. (WS/VP)
A legendary personality in sports especially in the game of Volley ball got laurals to his native Distt. Baramulla during his playing period and remained secretary and president of Distt. Volley ball Association of Bla still in action as president of Distt volley ball Association.Athorough Gentleman ,loving,supporting. . Allah bless u bhai Your saying goodbye to acte service but not the volley ball family or friends you are a living legend . Love u dear.
A legendary sports personality of Distt
Bla First ever coach of Distt..