Former Indian volley captain Tom recalls his first summer camp at SAI Calicut event

Former Indian captain Tom Joseph recalled his first summer camp and the impact it had on his career while addressing an event organised by ASAIC (Alumni of Sports Authority of India, Calicut centre).

“I remember attending my first summer camp led by Thomas Mash at Thottilpalam. I had arrived there as a boy fascinated by established volleyball players, by how they prepared for matches, tied their shoelaces or pulled on a jersey,” Tom Joseph said in Kozhikode.

He was addressing the third edition of ASAIC’s ‘kalikalathinu oru kaithangu’ (a helping hand to the sports arena), an annual event hosted by former members of SAI, Calicut, to provide sports equipment and goods to selected academies and training centres.

“At the camp, some organisation had gifted a few balls and that is where it started. From there, on Thomas Mash’s advice, I reached a SAI selection camp. Later, I played for India from 1999 till 2015,” said the popular spiker. Tom lauded ASAIC’s initiative to support small academies and hoped promising players would emerge through such efforts.

The ASAIC said it provided sports equipment and goods worth Rs 8 lakh to ten training centres shortlisted from 42 applications received from throughout the state. Renowned Paralympic athlete and a former World Arm-wrestling champion, Joby Mathew, inaugurated the event.