Dashnor Kaloçi
Memorie.al publishes the unknown story of Albanian sports legend, Meritorious Sports Master, Masar Aga, who started sports in the fields of fitness in Yugoslavia while studying at the Military School of Aviation in the town of Pancevo, where he managed to become a player. the Yugoslav Aviation representative team in the sport of Volleyball.
Some years later, Masar Aga was sent to study in the Soviet Union, where, after being individually trained by the famous trainer, Rajevski, a former Soviet Union Grand Champion, became a Ukrainian Sub-Champion in the high jump competition in the sport of athletics, ranking behind Ukrainian legend Serbekov.
Masari’s return to Albania and his activation in some types of sports such as volleyball, basketball, athletics, etc., engaging as a player and coach with the “Partizani” team, and that of the Albanian volleyball representative, where he was captain of the team excelling at many international meetings in various European countries, such as the Soviet Union, etc.
“During my two years there, from 1949 to 1951, with the team of” Dinamo “, I became the champion of Kharkov in the high jump, three steps, and 10 races. My three-step score of 13.48 m. was the second in the whole of Ukraine, after Serbekov, the famous Ukrainian athlete. ” This is what we witnessed in an interview a few years ago, Masar Aga, one of the legends of Albanian sport, who had received many honorary diplomas, medals, and decorations, many of which are in Russian, taken in Yugoslavia and Soviet Union, where he began his sports career since he was a student at the Aviation Academy. But who is Masar Aga, what is his sporting past and how did he manage to become one of Albania’s champions in some sports?
Starting the sport at Bami Tomb
Born in 1927 to a well-known tyrannical family, he began playing with his peers there at Bami’s Tomb, which was the first sports field in the city of Tirana. Avni Zajmi and Adem Karapici, two of the Physical Education teachers at the time, became his first coaches, joining the Eagle football team and urging him to pursue the sport further. After that, under the direction of Karapic Lajm, the young Masari continued to play athletics and play volleyball with the gymnasium team. In this connection, he recalled: “At that time, I started running with friends who came first in our neighborhood, from the Brar Bridge where we used to go swimming. Perhaps this prompted me to then run and play basketball with Naim Pilku, Vangjeli Koliaka, Cerciz Zavalani, etc., in competitions and matches organized by professors Avni Zajmi and Adem Karapici. Then from 1942, our gymnasium played some volleyball, basketball and football matches with the Kavaja Agricultural School, where I played soccer. During high school, under the direction of Professor Gaqo Gogo, I played handball and participated in some of the athletic competitions that took place at Shallvaret, Masar Aga recalled the period of his childhood and youth when he started doing some sports.
Volleyball player with the representative of Yugoslav Aviation
Only a few months after the end of the war, Masar Aga would be sent to study abroad and in this regard, he recalled: “On July 11, 1945, I went to Pancevo, Yugoslavia to study at the Military Aviation School and at school, a lecturer of Slovenian descent, looking at my long stature, encouraged me to participate in athletics, jogging and high jump. He guaranteed that if I followed his advice and instructions, I would soon become a European-level athlete. In addition to athletics, I started playing volleyball with the military and participated in a championship where I was promoted to being the Yugoslav Aviation Volleyball Representative. At a championship in 1948 in Pancevo, I took two-second places, jumping 1.73 meters. Zhico (1.83) was Yugoslavia’s sub-champion. After that, I was introduced to the Yugoslav sport’s elite and stayed at the Army Central House in Belgrade. In 1946, I received the GPM (Ready for Work and Defense) gold medal in several types of sports and I paraded along with two champion athletes of Yugoslavia before the high authorities of that country, and that’s where my sports career began. ” recalled Masar Aga, a period that began to be affirmed as a volleyball player and athlete in Yugoslavia.
Sub-champion in Ukraine
After breaking ties with Yugoslavia in 1948, Masari returned to Albania and spent time with the Partizani team, where he became a champion in the high jump. In October of that year, he went to study in the Soviet Union city of Armovir, and about that time, Masari recalled: “There I began to participate in some athletic competitions, where I came out and championed that city. My coach Kozlov specialized in volleyball and athletics. In 1949, we went to Kharkov, Ukraine, and that city created the conditions for me to play freely. There I found the great trainer Rajevski, the former USSR batsman who started training me in the high jump, three-step, three-way, 110m jump. with obstacles and bouncing bats. During those two years of staying there (1949-’51) with the team of “Dinamo”, doing a programmed exercise, I became a champion of Kharkov (city with 1.2 million inhabitants) in high jump, 1.80 m. in 10 races. My three-step score of 13.48 m. was second in Ukraine, after Serbekov, the famous Ukrainian athlete. At the Army Championships in Kiev, as a representative of Kharkov, I took first place in the high jump with 1.78 meters and second place in the 10 races ”, recalls Masar Aga at the time when he with his result in the high jump and three steps, ranked behind the Ukrainian champion. After three or four years, in 1954-’55, Masari went back to study in Soviet Union Grozny, and about that time, he recalled: “During those two years of my stay in Grozny, I was affirmed as a volleyball player of the class high with the Iskra team and I was fully trained as a coach. Those training methods that were rigorously applied there, I tried to apply them when I returned to Albania, during the time I was coaching the national team. ”
Athlete, volleyball player and coach with the “Partizani” team
After nearly two years of residence in Kharkov, Ukraine, in 1951 Masari returned to Albania. Immediately he was appointed coach and player on the Volleyball and Athletics team of the Partizani Sports Club. Regarding that period of time, Masari recalled: “Upon returning to Albania, my main goal was to set up a volleyball and athletic team to face Tirana’s” 17 November “which was unbeaten. After a lot of hard work on the volleyball team, we managed to set up a very strong team and in 1964 we became champions. Since that year, until 1964, with the Partizani_ volleyball team as a player and coach, alternating with my colleague Petrit Murzaku, I won nine Championships and eleven Republican Cups. In addition to volleyball, since I was allowed to participate in some types of sports at the same time, until 1954, I was also a coach of the Partizani athletics team, and as an athlete, I participated in competitions and championships until 1958. During those years I had the opportunity to train a large number of athletes who became champions and record holders of Albania. Among these talented athletes, I respectfully remember Telemak Theodhos, Shaban Lundra, Melpomeni Chobani, Sofie Mecen, Pina Thanin, Fatbardha and Ahmet Aga (my sister and brother) Hasan Dinen, Servet Abazin, Todi Koci, Hilmi Ramizi, Mujo Duli, Rexhina Hanxhar, Melek Arapin, Dilaver Toptani, etc. In those years as an athlete, I participated in the high jump, long jump, three-step, relay four times 100 m. running 400 m. and in the Balkan relay, being for a number of years the record in four races. In the high jump, at 1.78 m I broke the record-breaking my brother Ahmeti’s record. At the same time, I was also the champion of the 10 races, accumulating 5091 points, which for the time was a very high score.
Volleyball player and coach with the National team
In addition to competing as an athlete in several athletic championships and volleyball and coaching with the Partizani team, Masar Aga has been active for several years as a player and coach of the National Volleyball team. In this connection he recalled: “In 1951, upon my return from the Soviet Union, I also set up the National Volleyball Team, coaching that team. As a player and coach of the Albanian volleyball representative, I have played in many international meetings, where we have often achieved sensational victories, such as those with East Germany and Romania in Tirana. During those years, our volleyball reached high levels by competing with European and world teams. So in 1955, with the players I had drafted, the National Team finished 10th at the European Championships in Prague. That year, I didn’t participate in that activity, as I was in the Soviet Union, but our team consisted of players I had trained for years. After four years, in 1962, in the framework of the European Champions Cup, our National Volleyball Team beat the Austrian National Team twice in Tirana, with the excellent match of a very high level ”, recalled Masar Aga. , those glorious years of Albanian volleyball in the European arena, of which he says: “We had no problem with Western teams. We could come out as equals and win with them. ” One of the most important events of Masar Aga’s sporting career is the participation in the 1962 World Volleyball Championship in the Soviet Union. “Before the World Volleyball Championship, our team did a coaching tournament in China, where we played some matches in Shanghai, Beijing and some other cities,” he recalled. In Beijing, our team played a great game, and the next day the Chinese press wrote, among other things: ‘The Albanian team led by the great master Masar Aga’. When we returned to the Soviet Union, we were badly welcomed by the local authorities, as the political situation between our two countries was extremely aggravated, on the verge of disrupting diplomatic relations. Our team played the games in the city of Kiev, developing some of the most beautiful games with beautiful wins and in the overall ranking, we took the 14th place out of 25 teams participating. If we had a better treatment by the local authorities and if they didn’t send us to the ironclad Kiev team, our National Team would definitely be one of the best teams in the World. ” gold in Albanian volleyball and his sports career as captain and the main player of the National team.
End of the career
After a long career of 15 years, by the end of 1964, Masar Aga retired from the sport. This was further compounded by his inability to carry on, due to his military and senior staff commitments in the General Aviation Command and as a pilot of the government aircraft. Although retiring as a sportsman, he continued to remain a senior in the sport, having been the head of the Volleyball Federation for 30 years. Masari has also been the Chairman of the Arbitration Panel for 15 years, a member of the Olympic Committee up to the General Presidency of the Union of Futurists and Athletes of Albania. He was one of the first athletes to receive the top title “Master of Sport” in 1952 and then “Meritorious Sports Master”, without counting dozens of medals and decorations as champion and record holder of Albania in several sports competitions and types. , remaining in the memory of his sports lovers and contemporaries as one of the living legends of Albanian sport./Memorie.al
