Dorsa Yavarivafa remembers watching the Olympics on TV when she was around 13, growing up in Iran. She remembers asking her mother: \u201cDo you think I\u2019ll ever get there?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her mother replied that of course it was possible if she worked hard.<\/p>\n
That ambition, of playing on the biggest of sporting stages, is getting closer to realisation for the refugee player based in the UK, with Yavarivafa being named as one of IOC\u2019s Refugee Scholarship Holders for the Paris 2024 Olympics. The scholarship will enable her to train and compete in tournaments in the run-up to the Olympics.<\/p>\n
Yavarivafa was nine when she switched from basketball to badminton, influenced by her father\u2019s love for the game.[vc_single_image image=”11266″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]\u201cAt my first tournament I got first place. I kept getting good results, and I got better and better. I wanted to compete internationally,\u201d says the 19-year-old.<\/p>\n
Forced to leave their homeland, she accompanied her mother as they reached Germany, where they lived as refugees for a year. At the refugee camp where they were put up, she struggled to find a court.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was training at my quarters most of the time. I couldn\u2019t find anywhere to train. Eventually I found a club, BVB. The coaches were friendly and I trained there, and I started competing, and I did well, I won the German National U19 Championships.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unable to get residential status in Germany, the mother and daughter had to go through another traumatic relocation, this time hoping to find refuge in the UK.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t easy at all. So much bad stuff happened\u2026 I was thinking about badminton all the time during those journeys. We had to go through various places to get to UK, so it wasn\u2019t easy at all. I was thinking, what about badminton? Because it\u2019s hard to start in a country where nobody knows you. I was a good player in Iran. The first thing I had to do was find a sports hall. That was the only thing I had in my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t train for four months. I kept looking around. Initially we were in Birmingham. We didn\u2019t have a car, so we walked a lot, or we\u2019d take the bus. Finally I met a player called Lorraine Cole, she supported me a lot and coached me. I can\u2019t thank her enough. I joined her club and I found lovely friends and nice coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n
Good news finally came the Yavarivafas\u2019 way as they got confirmation that they could stay on in UK. She started training in Birmingham after enrolling for a sports science and fitness course at Sandwell College.<\/p>\n
After keeping the flame of badminton alive over many years, and through difficult circumstances, Yavarivafa could scarcely believe it when she was informed that she was on the list of IOC Refugee Scholarship Holders.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, is this happening? Or am I dreaming? I was so stressed to talk to them, because I was in shock. When I heard I was accepted, I immediately started crying. And my mom was also so happy. I got to the point where I have always wanted to get to. I will never forget that moment.\u201d[\/vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
Photo credit: BadmintonPhoto\/Alan Spink<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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