Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that volleyball gives the message of “Team First”, as all players play for a team.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the 72nd National Volleyball Championship in Uttar Pradesh via video conferencing, he added, “This game teaches us that no victory is ever achieved alone. Everyone wins when the team wins. Our country also embodies this spirit of India first.”
PM Modi inaugurated the event in the presence of chief minister Yogi Adityanath and deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak.
A total of 58 teams are participating in the tournament, which will conclude on January 11.
“Volleyball is not a general sport. This is a game of balance, a sport of coordination. This sport reflects resolution. In this sport, the ball has to be lifted up. Volleyball gives us the message of ‘Team First’; every player plays for his team. I see many things in common between volleyball and the development story of India. This game teaches us that no victory is ever achieved alone. Everyone wins when the team wins,” he said.
He added that, on the lines of volleyball, India is progressing because every individual is working with the collective consciousness of ‘India First’.
Addressing the players PM Modi said, “There’s a saying, ‘If you want to understand Varanasi, you have to come to Varanasi.’ Now that you have all come to Varanasi, you will understand its culture as well. You will find enthusiastic spectators here.”
{{/usCountry}}Addressing the players PM Modi said, “There’s a saying, ‘If you want to understand Varanasi, you have to come to Varanasi.’ Now that you have all come to Varanasi, you will understand its culture as well. You will find enthusiastic spectators here.”
{{/usCountry}}He said that before 2014, the then government was “indifferent towards sports”, but after 2014, infrastructure for sports has been developed across the country.
He added that Kashi is emerging as a destination for major sports tournaments like this one.