Solo Volleyball

From the early days of high school, Ibrahim’s strong arms showed that he was a champion in many sports. He always played volleyball during our physical education classes. No one could oppose him. One time he played alone against six people. He was only allowed to hit the ball three times in a row. All of us, including our physical education teacher, witnessed how he won. From that day on, Ibrahim mostly played volleyball alone. During most holidays we played behind the fire station located at the 17th of Shahrivar Street. Many of the contenders could not defeat him. The best memory of Ibrahim’s volleyball was during war time in the city of Gilan Gharb. There was a volleyball court where the soldiers played. One day a few minibuses came to visit the war zones in Gilan Gharb. Their group leader was Mr. Davudi, the head of the Physical Education Organization. Mr. Davudi was Ibrahim’s physical education teacher in high school and knew him well. He gave some sports equipment to Ibrahim and told him, “Use these in whatever way you think is best.” Then he said, “Our friends are from various sports fields. They have come to visit.” Ibrahim talked a little for the athletes and showed the different parts of the city to them until we got to the volleyball court. Mr. Davudi said, “A few members of the Tehran Volleyball Club are with us. What do you think about having a match?” The game started at 3 p.m. Five athletes, of whom three were professional volleyball players, were on one side, and Ibrahim was on the other side alone. There were many spectators. As usual Ibrahim stood in front of them with bare feet, pants legs folded up, and wearing a t-shirt. He played so well that it was hard to believe. They only played one set and it finished in favor of Ibrahim with a ten point difference. Then, the athletes took a picture with Ibrahim. They couldn’t believe that a simple soldier could play like the most professional athletes. One time in the Dokuheh Garrison I talked about Ibrahim’s volleyball skills. One of the soldiers went and brought a volley ball. Then he made two teams and called Ibrahim to come too. At first he didn’t want to play. When we insisted he said, “Then, all of you be on one side and I will play alone!” After the game some of the commanders said, “We have never laughed this much! Each time Ibrahim hit the ball; a few people went towards it. They would bump into each other and fall to the ground!” In the end, Ibrahim won the game with a huge difference.