John, life and soul of Dr. Sivanthi Gold Cup

P John, a sub-inspector who had not played volleyball at the highest level but made a significant contribution to the growth of the game in Chennai, helped many young children take up the game and also find employment.

“John annachi was a simple soul and he breathed volleyball until his death,” says Chithirapandian, secretary of Nellai Friends Volleyball Club, which jointly hosts the all-India tournament along with Dr. Sivanthi Club. John was ‘anna’ to many and ‘annachi’ to his friends. His summer camps were eagerly looked forward to by the poor. He was not happy with the Sports Council because whenever he requested for coaches for his camps, none turned up. That was why he did the coaching himself, though he modestly admitted he helped the young boys and girls do a lot of running and jumping. 

John’s camps were the starting points for serious coaching for the aspirants as he followed them up with specialised coaching camps by providing senior players to train them and also gave them food. 

“Though the tournament was launched in 1961, it was not regular initially,” recalls Chithirapandian. “The first edition was held for the Daily Thanthi Trophy and it continued like that for a long time. When John died in 1996, the tournament was re-christened P John Memorial and this year a new cup was given (Dr Sivanthi Gold Cup). 

“John was committed to volleyball, though he was not a big player,” says Walter Davaram, retired DGP. “He joined Tamil Nadu Police as a constable and retired as a sub-inspector. Some of the youngsters he trained even joined police and the state police team used to take part in the tournament then.” 

Those who worked alongside John say he was always at the Corporation ground in Egmore either playing volleyball or watching children in action in the evenings. 

Though the crowd is missing these days, the current players aver that the tournament serves as a good platform to test their skills. “Of course, volleyball tournaments in Kerala bring in a larger number of spectators, but the John Memorial has its own charm,” says Prabhagaran of ICF. 

And when Income Tax, Pune beat IOB, Chennai in one of the exciting five-set encounters this week, the one point that was emphasised was the visitors had five players from Tamil Nadu in their ranks! Good endorsement for the sport in the state.