Iran Has Talented Female Riders: English Trainer

August 1, 1998 - 0:0
TEHRAN Khadijeh Sepanji, Organizing Expert in Women's Athletic Events and head of state-run Equestrian Association participated in an exclusive interview with the TEHRAN TIMES and elaborated on the women's sports. The athletic activities of Iranian women officially starting in 1981 firstly included five fields of volleyball, basketball, tennis, swimming and track-and-field, Sepanji said and then added that the sports of mountaineering, badminton, gymnastics and ...

were added to them and at present the women are active in over 25 different sports. Speaking about horse-riding, she revealed that some 4 Iranian women passed a training course held in France three years ago. She went on to say that the first round of women's 9-day horse-riding training course under the English 33-year-old instructor Talin Talverdian ended in Siahpoosh Club. According to Sepanji, the English coach has expressed her satisfaction over the course and also has praised the Iranian female riders' skill and talent.

Talverdian is due to come back to Iran in late September for the second stage of horse-riding course to be held in Tehran and Mashhad, she explained. Sepanji who is an sports consultant said, The municipalities of Tehran's 20 districts have held running races since 1995, adding that the main aim behind these competitions is to attract the interested female athletes.

Asked about the physical fitness of the women for playing soccer, she replied that the female athletes can play soccer in indoor hall very well and its resulted damages are not serious to them. In response to the same question, Mitra Danaee-Fard, the sister of former footballer of Iranian national squad, Iraj Danaee-Fard, and also a member of women's national soccer team before the Islamic Revolution, said, Since they do warm-up exercises before the match, they face no physical problem during playing soccer, adding that women's soccer does not contrast with the Islamic rules.

Financial problems have caused that women's sports could not be taken seriously nationwide, concluded Sepanji.