Because of my father’s profession, I entered the world of sports when I was four years old. I tip toed around a few fields until I was introduced to skating. I started my professional career with speed skating and upon my coach’s recommendation, I started doing hockey; this is the field that I have continued my career in to date.
Almost all the other fields I had touched before hockey, had been individual sports, and this specific field was my very first try in team sports. The love, enthusiasm, and the ambition it entails is thrilling to me.
I started my career with in-line hockey. Since this field is somewhat unknown in Iran, we always received bewildering questions. Questions like: Do we even have hockey in Iran? Or do girls play hockey in Iran too? And they have a league, you say?
One of the most frequent questions we receive is about how much hockey costs and whether it can include different financial backgrounds. The truth is that hockey is an expensive sport, but that doesn’t mean that all our players come with money. Many of our players struggle every day, with limited resources and finances, to keep pushing forward. Their passion for hockey, along with the support they receive from their families and coaches, motives them, even in the absence of any form of aid from the federation.
Iran’s women national in-line hockey team have managed to compete in four rounds of Asian games and a round of international games against all odds and challenges that looms over athletes in Iran, and even more, on female athletes. The result of these competitions has been three bronze medals for the country.
AZAM SANAEI
Iran’s Women National Hockey Team Captain
The last tournament we played at, was the 2018 Asian games in South Korea that became one of the best competitions, and times, of our lives. And though we faced numerous obstacles, from not having a few of our key players with us, due to financial misfortunes, to the increased number of powerful teams competing, we were able to fight hard and win hard.
Another thing that added to our high during these games, was the presence of Sam Kalantari, the movie director, and his team by our side from day one. Kalantari wanted to make a documentary about the women of in-line hockey in Iran and thus, he spent the entirety of the games with us. With his aid, we started a campaign called “battle by me, support from you”. Little by little, the campaign was noticed by movie stars and influencer and over time, it brought attention to hockey and the team.
Kalantari also produced a documentary called “No place for angels” which became a message of hope. This documentary shows how humans, regardless of their gender, earn success by trying hard. It also displays how men and women stand shoulder-to-shoulder in support of one another.
The third element that added to our glee during the 2018 games, was the championship of Iran’s men’s national hockey team. Their win brought hope and pride us all.
Fresh blood pumped through the veins of hockey after that, and it received more attention. Players’ spirits were lifted, and they worked harder than before. Even during the devastation of the pandemic, our players maintained their practices, mostly alone and on rare occasions, with a couple of teammates. Through this roller-coaster of hardships and diligence, one of our dreams finally came true and Iran opened its very first standard ice rink; from that point on, all the hockey players have been practicing ice hockey alongside in-line hockey.
Iran joined IHFF last year with the efforts of Kaveh Sedghi, the Head of Iran Hockey association and national teams’ coach.
Since then, the team has been preparing itself to compete in international fields in ice and in-line hockey. Our main goal is to win the championship in in-line hockey and shine in our very first ice hockey experience. With this much rigor and potential in the team, the future looks brighter than ever.