Special Olympics Coordinator Uses Basketball to Empower

From Istanbul, Metehan has a Bachelor’s in Coaching from the School of Physical Education and Sport at Ankara Gazi University and is currently pursuing his Master’s in the Training and Movement Sciences Program at the Gazi University Institute of Health Sciences.

Metehan began his professional career as a youth basketball coach; he also served as an assistant coach for the professional team playing in the Turkish Professional Basketball League. Following this, he volunteered for Europejskie Forum Mlodziezy in Poland, a project aimed at assisting young people with intellectual disabilities to integrate through sport and physical education. In 2016, he joined the Special Olympics Turkiye Program as a project coordinator, where he managed and developed projects, coordinated events for people with intellectual disabilities in different sports, designed and implemented training, monitored and evaluated research, and organized volunteer work. In the two years following, he worked as a project coordinator at the Active Living Association, where he was responsible for developing and maintaining corporate social responsibility projects and public health research projects to improve healthy living and physical activity habits. Furthermore, he was selected as the Young Delegate for the European Non-Governmental Sport Organization (ENGSO), where he participated in developing resources and policies related to sports and Sustainable Development Goals. Metehan’s currently serves as a Board Member of the Active Living Association and Climate for 350, and Project Coordinator of Special Olympics Turkiye.

Metehan’s mission is to utilize basketball, basic sports skills, and fundamental movement skills as tools to empower both people with intellectual disabilities and members of other marginalized communities.