The English Press Club recently sat down with Saksham Dua, Captain of the boys’ volleyball team, to talk about how they’re gearing up for this edition of BOSM.

Regarding the game of volleyball, Saksham explained that it was played between two teams across a net. Each team had seven players, with six on the court at a time. Players, situated in positions roughly resembling a circle, would periodically rotate clockwise through different positions, taking on various roles throughout the game. This rotation was noted to add strategy to both offensive and defensive play. The winning team was the first to reach at least 25 points, while maintaining a lead of two or more points over its opponent.

Saksham said that in BOSM, there was one volleyball event, whose structure was determined based on the number of teams participating. If there were fewer than ten teams, it would follow a round-robin format. Otherwise, teams would be split into pools, of which the best-performing would take part in a knock-out round. Saksham said that he expected the latter structure this time, since around thirteen teams were likely to participate.

He added that the BITS team had improved significantly in recent years, having won the gold in BOSM 2024, and another tournament in Thapar University this year. Their target, he said, was to secure victory in this BOSM as well.

Saksham credited much of the progress to the team’s coach, Mr Vinit A., a former member of the Senior National Volleyball team. The coach designed the training regimen, which included morning sessions of physical drills focusing on endurance, movement, and agility followed by evening sessions dedicated to matches. The team trained for two hours in the morning and two in the evening, every day. Saksham said that all 21 members of the BITS volleyball team practiced together, and that they were all competing in BOSM as part of one of the two squads, Team A and Team B.

According to Saksham, recruitments to the volleyball team were fairly competitive, with around 12-15 of nearly 70 applicants making the cut. This year, the number of applicants was far greater than expected. To evaluate them, the team first assessed their fitness and passing skills, followed by skills specific to each player’s desired position.

When asked if the team faced any issues, Saksham answered saying there were no major problems, and that all his interactions with the institute and CoSSAc had been positive. He stated that the only difficulty was convincing first-year recruits to attend practice consistently.

Saksham also spoke about how much he enjoyed his time as Captain, saying that the role helped him grow closer to his team. He stated that the responsibilities of the captaincy motivated him to perform better in his matches, and strengthened his leadership skills. Reflecting on his journey, he said that he played volleyball in school, which inspired him to join the BITS team in his first year, and paved the way for him to take the captaincy in his fourth year. He credited his coach for supporting him throughout his journey, and said the members of the boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams were very close to each other.

When asked if there was anything he’d like to tell the GBM, Saksham encouraged them to try out for any sport of their choice, even if they were unsure, because he believed that they would come to love the experience.