The BOSM English Press sat with Samaira Jain, the Captain of the girls’ volleyball team, to get an insight into their preparations leading up to the fest. 

Samaira started by stating that they had been training under a coach for the last month and since the team was relatively new, some players had to be trained from scratch. She added that the team had also held a few workshops for the first-year students.

One of the major setbacks faced by the team was due to frequent rains in Pilani in August, since they played on dirt courts which became unplayable even if it rained a bit, she explained. She shared that on the days it did not rain, they practised from 6:00 AM to 7:30 AM before classes, along with a couple of hours of practice in the evening. 

When asked about handling high-pressure situations during the match, she said that they went with the flow and that the juniors could approach any senior in case of any difficulty during play. 

She said that they had received prompt responses from the Sports Union in case of any issues, and the Gym Ground authorities had been prompt in responding to their demands related to the playing area. She mentioned that since the team had new players, she wanted to give them the experience of a high-stakes tournament. Furthermore, she added that they hoped for a medal this year too, which would act as a motivation for practising after BOSM concluded. She did not want her juniors to feel stressed and instead wanted them to enjoy the game. 

On a parting note, she urged everyone to support the team and assured that the viewers would be happy to see how far the team had come along in their journey.