One of Britain's top weightlifting coaches has threatened to throw the towel in as he feels his efforts are being ignored and going unappreciated.
Former Olympic weightlifter Kazem Panjavi currently runs the Stars for the Future club, which covers a number of west London boroughs, including Hounslow, before which he ran Champions Gym at Hounslow Manor School.
Not only have his lifters consistently achieved success at regional tournaments and in the London Youth Games, but also at national level, with many becoming age group UK champions.
However, Panjavi, who was until recently part of the England coaching set up, has long been disillusioned with those who run the sport in this country, and the final straw came following the British U18 Championships at Lilleshall earlier this month.
Stars for the Future took a team of nine lifters, three coaches and two helpers to Shropshire for the event and took home the overall title as well as five individual golds, two silvers and a bronze.
Two of those golds went to Hounslow lifters – Feltham Community School's Poi Fakcha in the 58kg gold and Cranford Community College's Shonagh Woodburn in the 63kg (with two new personal bests) – while Lampton School's Alysia Ekpekan took silver in the 75kg (with one new personal best).
However, Panjavi's delight as his team achievements have been well and truly dampened by snub after snub from the weightlifting authorities, sporting bodies and local councils. His pleas for help with funding and for finding a permanent base for his team have all gone unanswered.
He said: “I paid for the minibus myself and drove the six hour round trip, and after becoming British champions, all we got was a little team trophy. We did not even get any travel costs.
“I brought up this team from nothing with no money and no budget, all for free, and in return I don't even get response from MPs and Sport England to help us get our own place.
“Now I know why people giving up sports so easily in this country. After the club competition in December I am going to pass my club to the five new level two coaches and retire from coaching.
“Also, from 2011 until two months ago I was helping the England talent team as a regional coach for free and brought up the best team in this country, with five new GB and England talent lifters, two of which have the potential to compete in Glasgow Commonwealth Games. But the British Weightlifting performance office took the job from me and gave it to someone who has no experience as competition weightlifter.
“As I can see, all my hard work for developing weightlifting in five boroughs and 28 schools and developing talent for GB has not noticed. I'm going to look for another job and leave the club to my young coaches. I hope they can continue my way and produce more lifters for GB team.”
