It is a matter of immense pride for Indians that our country, in the past decades, has made a name for itself in various fields and given the world some of the best in each of those fields. Be it scientists, teachers, artists, Indians have made their mark and made the country proud.
In our previous episodes we introduced to you a model and then a litterateur. Today, the NRI Newsmaker brings to you an Indian who has made a name for himself in the field of sports, a Kannadiga who has made us proud to call him our own.
Scores of Indian sports achievers are born in villages and have written their destinies to achieve great success in a short span of time with limited resources, lack of access to modern sports equipment and world-class training.
Moideen Kunhi is an apt example for such an achiever. Born in a middle class family, Moideen grew up playing in the streets of his village with his dear friends, having an unmistakable love for sports. This love and passion has today made him an inspiration to hundreds to achieve the name that he has made.
Yes, today we are talking about a star of the volleyball court Moideen Kunhi, who is better known as a world-class volleyball referee.
Somewhere in the 90’s, a small boy named Moideen was interested in a game of volleyball, when all his friends were interested to play other games. But Moideen insisted, because he found a certain difference in volleyball when compared to any other game. He decided that he wants to be the best in this sport.
On being asked as to what made him more interested in this particular sport, he recalled and said, “Volleyball is a highly famous sport especially in village areas. So at my birth place, Kasaragod, we had more exposure to Volleyball than cricket. So it made me show more interest in playing volleyball than cricket.
As said before, streets are the best way of building a foundation for real sportsman. Moideen also started out with likeminded friends playing volleyball on the streets. But when this passion attracts and vision inspires, magic is bound to happen.
Moideen started to shine in the game during his school days and his parents and teachers observed a tremendous potential in the small boy who was creating new records in the school score board. His physical education teacher K. Radhakrishnan encouraged him to spend more time on the field in order to make him an ace volleyball player.
There was no looking back after that, because the little boy who worked hard at the game he loved so much had been noticed by everyone!
Several teams of Karnataka now asked him to play for them. Moideen grabbed the opportunity and excelled in his efforts and played for many state level and national level volleyball competitions in India. He was the star player for Karnataka, Goa and Kerala teams.
But it seemed that his talents didn’t receive the appreciation in his motherland and as many other talented players have experienced it, even Moideen was neglected by the system. Having seen no future and career staying in India, he decided to move to Dubai for better prospects.
On being asked the reason as to why Volleyball as a sport is not given so much importance in India, as cricket, Kabaddi or football, he said, “Volleyball has high value but the lack of potential marketing and less interest from sponsors has made volleyball less attractive”.
His dreams got a silver lining as several companies in the UAE recognised the talent that he possessed and provided him with opportunities to showcase his talents.
In a short time Moideen won the heart of UAE volleyball lovers and played his best games at world’s most happening city. He was then given a chance to play for Dubai Duty Free, a prestigious team of UAE which is a subsidiary of Dubai Airport Authority. He played for Dubai Duty Free team from 2002 to 2010. He played a major role at the UAE Club championship held at 2004.
Speaking about why Volleyball is much appreciated in the gulf, he said, “Volleyball is famous all over the world, so we can see the same spirit abroad as well. Especially Indian volleyball lovers. They make their own teams and start playing for tournaments and other occasions. This has kept the spirit of volleyball alive. Also, several companies arranging tournaments for their staff is one of the reasons for this game gaining more popularity”.
“Also I can proudly say that many sports clubs are trying to teach best volleyball to young generations. This will go a long way for the sport”, he added.
Apart from being a successful volleyball player, Moideen gained popularity for being an efficient volleyball referee. He started his journey as a referee from 1998 for All India Volleyball tournament held at Kasaragod, Kerala. He passed his exam as the Kerala state level volleyball referee at 2000 and became a referee for many state level volleyball matches. His accurate decisions at the ground and hard work made him a qualified National Referee and he was awarded this title from Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) on 2012.
This recognition from VFI made him a part of many prestigious volleyball tournaments in the UAE namely Dubai Shopping Festival, Etisalat Inter Department Championship, Emirates Airline Department championship and many others. Apart from these prestigious tournaments, Moideen became a household name in many Karnataka based associations tournaments like Karnataka Sangha Sharjah, Karnataka Sangha Abudhabi, Kanajar Friends, Karavali Milan Abudhabi, Bellevison Dubai, Mangalore Konkans Dubai, KCO Abu Dhabi and many others from the year 2002 to till date.
Recently Moideen played an important role as the referee for Indian Association Sharjah Ramadan tourney from June 30 to July 10 2015 at Sharjah, Etisalat Inter department volley from July 1 to July 8 2015 at Abudhabi country club, Volley mates Sharjah open volleyball tourney at Dubai June 5 2015.
Apart from all these achievements Moideen recalls that the 62nd National Senior Volleyball Championship which was played from 21 December to 29 December 2013 at Moradabad – Uttar Pradesh was one of his most cherished achievements that made him proud of himself.
Despite being so talented and internationally recognized, Moideen is known to be a very simple, down to earth and humble personality. When someone acknowledges his success, he merely smiles and fondly speaks of everyone who has supported him to achieve his goals in his life and he assures his contribution to the society as a real lover of volleyball.
Team Newskarnataka wishes Moideen a great future in all of his endeavours as a sportsman.
About the Author
Kiran Nirkan: A Mechanical Engineer by profession, Kiran is currently working in Dubai as a facilities engineer. He is a special correspondent for News Karnataka Dubai.
The NRI Newsmaker is a section dedicated to recognizing those talented and hardworking individuals who have made a name for themselves in the field they have stepped into. Their efforts may have been gone unrecognized by the masses but they certainly deserve your acclaim. Because as Kannadigas, they have done commendable work and made their state beam with pride.
