SLO - Zupan Named Deaf Athlete Of Year

ST PETERSBURG (2010 FIBA World Championship) - Miha Zupan has become such an accomplished basketball player for his clubs, and Slovenia, that it’s hard to believe he has had to overcome so much in his life just to become a professional ball player.

But Zupan is legally deaf and wears hearing aids in both ears.

Zupan, who represented Slovenia at the FIBA World Championship this year in Istanbul and helped them reach the Quarter-Finals, has been named as the 2010 WIDEX Sportsman of the Year by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf.

The 28-year-old power forward has become an inspirational figure in Slovenia.

"The recognition as the best deaf athlete in the world for me is a nice achievement and great honor,” Zupan said in a statement.

“This is proof that we can reach the level of the World Cup, which I have shown this year in Turkey and I am confident that we can achieve even more.

“The prize is worth my effort and investment in sport.”

The path to the professional ranks for Zupan started at DGN Ljubljana - a sports club in Slovenia for the hearing impaired.

He started playing basketball at 14 and as he grew into a big, strong player, he caught the eye of the leading clubs in the country.

In 2000, he signed a contract with Geoplin Slovan.

"When people saw the potential in me, I started to believe in myself," he said in an interview with FIBA.com back in 2007.

"The only thing I was really scared about then was how my new team-mates would welcome me among them."

As it turned out, he fit in nicely.

"I was really lucky," he said.

"Very soon, I was a part of a great team. The players were good athletes and also very good people. Everybody helped me a lot - like Jaka Lakovic (Winterthur Barcelona), Uros Slokar … Being accepted as one of them meant a lot to me.

"It also helped me to communicate with the team and the coach."

At his previous club, the players and coaches could use other methods of communication while at Slovan, he needed to wear a hearing device.

"At first, I played without my hearing device, because there was a great risk of losing it during the practices and games," he said.

"But after two years, I finally found a solution. My second coach at Slovan, the first one was Tomo Mahoric, was Ivan Sunara and he advised me to wear a sweatband.

"With it, I could finally play with the hearing devices in my ears and that was a big step forward in my career.

"I started playing much better - some say from 50 to 70 percent better."

Zupan's confidence began to grow.

"It was much easier to communicate with others and I could follow the play much easier," he said.

"For me, hearing my team-mates, the coach and the referee during the match, was something new, something great."

Zupan is now playing for Spartak St Petersburg in Russia’s top flight.

“I am very happy with playing at Spartak, because in Russia I feel good, I have an important role and I hope that I will constantly play up to the end of the season and that we will be spared luck with injuries."

FIBA