TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran sitting volleyball coach Hadi Rezaei says that empowering people with disability is most important thing for him.
– Sports news –
He is one of the most successful individuals in the sport who has won a total of seven world titles – four as a player and three as a coach.
In the last six years he bagged three important achievements, including back-to-back Paralympic gold medals in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo and the world title in Arnhem in 2018.
He is in Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the moment to lead Team Melli at the2022 World ParaVolley Sitting Volleyball World Championships.
“I have been to the Paralympic Games nine times and I felt that was enough. Since I belong to the community of people with disabilities and after serving many years as captain and coach for the Iranian team, I have been deeply in love with sitting volleyball. And if there is any way that I could be useful for the sport, I would be happy to serve over and over again,” the Iranian tactician said.
The 62-year-old coach acts as a role model and actively uses his influence and experience to advocate for development.
“Sitting volleyball is a beautiful sport and its beauty increases with time because teams are all getting better. The people at World ParaVolley do not just use their influence but also use their experience to see that the sport improves and make sitting volleyball the No. 1 team sport for people with disabilities,” he told worldparavolley.org.
As for his team’s success in sitting volleyball, he shared that empowerment is key.
“I can talk about winning, but for me the most important thing is empowering people before anything else. A person with disability becomes revitalized when he or she joins sport because there is some sense of improvement and success,” Rezaei concluded.