Nizam Cancar

Started: He began playing sitting volleyball in 1996 in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. (klix.ba, 30 Nov 2015) Reason: He took up the sport as part of his rehabilitation. (Sitting Volleyball Club Fantomi - Monography, 01 Jan 2011) Awards: In 2020 he received a Recognition Award from the World ParaVolley Federation. The honour acknowledges the recipient's significant contribution towards and development of sitting volleyball. (worldparavolley.org, 24 Apr 2020) He was named the 2019 Best Male Athlete with an Impairment in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. (report.ba, 05 Mar 2020) He was named Best Blocker at the 2018 World Championships in the Netherlands. (direktno.ba, 23 Jul 2018) Additional Info: COACHING In 2020 he was appointed head coach of the newly established women's sitting volleyball national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina. "They mastered the basics very well in half a year. We try as hard as we can. The quality of this team is really visible." (federalna.ba, 25 Dec 2020) OTHER ACTIVITIES He featured in a project led by Italian photographer Rocco Rorandelli called 'Mineland - The Endless War', which presented portraits of people that had survived land mine explosions during the Bosnian War. (nytimes.com, 04 Apr 2018) PLAYING FOR CROATIA He was invited to train with the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team, but after being passed over for selection he switched to compete for Croatia. In 2009 he made the decision to start representing Bosnia and Herzegovina again. "At the end of 2004 or 2005 I decided to compete for Croatia at the world championships. Four years later, the Bosnian Federation asked me to come back and compete for Bosnia and Herzegovina and it finally happened in 2009." (klix.ba, 30 Nov 2015)