The 8th Vahman Cup Event in Yazd from 22nd upto 25th Bahman 10th upto 14th feb 2009

The inauguration ceremonies of the 8^thround of the Vahman Volleyball Cup, which is named in memory of the four young Zoroastrians who lost their lives in the Mazandaran Sea last summer, took place in Yazd, on 22^nd Bahman (10^th feb 2009).

Shirazian participants named one of their teams “Yaran Darya” (The Sea Friends) in memory of the tragic event of KoushkVvarjavand, Gilan.
The Kermani players held a frame of the photo of Nader Nowzari, their team player, to commemorate his memory, and distributed flowers among the audience.
The inauguration started with recitation of Gathas by Shekoufeh Khavarian and Mehrbanoo Iranzamin.  Siamak Mavandadi, Head of the “Yaneshvaran Mantra” Association (seekers of the holy words) of Yazd, welcomed the Zoroastrians who were present for the inauguration.  He conveyed the felicitations of the Association on occasion of the 30^th anniversary of the victory of the revolution, and commemorated the memory of the Zoroastrians martyrs of the past 30 years.  He explained: Vahman means good thoughts and I hope that all our athletes play together in this competition with “good thoughts”.  He added, “we are holding this 8^th round of the Vahman volleyball games in memory of the four of our beloved youth who died in the tragic event in Gilan.
Esfandiar Ekhtiari, Zoroastrian MP, in his speech, pointed to this year’s budget and stated that construction has not been included in the budget planning, therefore, all Zoroastrian Associations in Iran, should focus their activities on culture and sports, and gave the example of Yaneshvaran Mantra Association which has been holding these games without any financial assistance.
A show by some Zoroastrian skaters, a show with flags of Iran, and the signing of the volley ball by team captains, were among the inauguration programmes.  The last was the marching of the participating teams of the 8^th round of the Vahman Volleyball cup.
The Vahman Volleyball games are being held by Yaneshvaran Mantra Association, every year, since 1380 (2001) in the field of girls and boys volleyball.