Volleyball coach wants Pakistan to follow Iranian sports model

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Iranian volleyball coach Hamid Movahedi on Monday said if Pakistan succeeds in adopting the sports system which had been established in schools of Iran then he was confident that its results would be more productive.

“Sure, in my opinion we have the best sports talent in Pakistan. If Pakistan’s government can put in the system established in Iran and can manage the sort of equipment and programmes for Pakistani students it will yield more productive results as Pakistan

has more population than Iran,” Movahedi told ‘The News’ in an interview.

However, he added that if followed the Iran’s system then it would need to stick to it for at least one decade for desired results.

“But you need to plan exactly the same way Iran has done. This will also need good programmes, hefty budget and specialists to work in schools. It will need minimum ten to 12 years when it will start giving you desired results,” Movahedi added.

He said he was surprised why Pakistan was not focusing on school sports which were the basic nurseries.

“Sports in schools are more important. But in Pakistan this vital sector has been badly ignored,” the coach added.

Movahedi has been serving as Pakistan’s volleyball coach for the last couple of years.

Highlighting the features of Iran’s sports system in schools, colleges and universities, Movahedi said: “We have very strong sports system in Iranian schools.”

“They start sports in primary schools which have adopted a very modern system with high level equipment and sports halls. This leads to high school, intermediate and university level,” he said.

“In Iran everything is different from Pakistan. There we have sports teachers in every school who are working very hard with the students. We also have sports academies in every city and zone to train the children,” he said.

“We also have too many inter-school tournaments besides school leagues in every zone, city, state and the whole country,” the coach added.

He said Iran also sends its school teams to World Schools Championships and other international schools tournaments.

At a time when the government of Pakistan is seeking ways how to promote sports, Movahedi’s stance that school sports needs to be focused may help the country’s sports think-tanks to divert their attention towards the vital sector.

About Pakistan’s volleyball team camp for the South Asian Games, Movahedi said Pakistan Volleyball Federation had been trying to hold it as early as possible.

Movahedi lives in Turkey. During his couple of years stint as Pakistan’s coach he worked on all stuff, also including youth and junior teams and has prepared some solid supporting lot which is being groomed.

Most recently under his command Pakistan volleyball team surprised everyone when it shocked strong China in the Asian Games in Indonesia.

About his own experience how he found volleyball talent in Pakistani schools Movahedi said: “Last year we had an Inter-School Championship in Bannu and another school event in Islamabad and from there we got a few good players who were sent to youth and junior training camps.”