YAŞAR SEVİM

Prof. Dr. Yaşar Sevim was born in 1948 in the Göksun district of Kahramanmaraş. He completed his primary, secondary, and high school education in Gaziantep. He graduated from the Department of Physical Education at the Gazi Education Institute in 1969. From 1970 to 1974, he specialized in handball, basketball, volleyball, and football at the Cologne Higher Sports Academy (Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln) in Germany.

From 1974 to 1996, he served as a faculty member at the Ankara 19 Mayıs Youth and Sports Academy and as Head of the Coaching Department at the Gazi University School of Physical Education and Sports. He taught basketball, handball, and training information at the Gazi University School of Physical Education and Sports. During his time in higher education, he published over 100 reviews, articles, and essays in domestic and international sports journals, and 24 books on sports.

Yaşar Sevim, who played basketball, handball, football, and athletics in Germany and Turkey, played for years in the 1st Away Basketball League abroad and in Turkey, reaching the national level in this field. Sevim, who coached teams in the away basketball and handball leagues and won numerous Turkish championships with them, founded the Turkish Handball Federation in 1976 at the age of 28 and served as its first president. Following the establishment of the Handball Federation, Sevim also served as the National Team Coach for many years. As a handball coach, Sevim led the Eskişehir ETİ team to the semi-finals of the European Champion Clubs' Cup, finishing third in Europe.

He led our national team to second place in the Men's Universiade World Championship in 1995 and 1997. In 2008, the Women's Universiade National Team, under his management, won the World Championship in Italy.

In September 1986, he became the first Turkish instructor elected to the Technical and Methodical Commission of the IHF (International Handball Federation). After 1994, he served as the Elected Lecturer of the Coaches' Methodical Commission of the EHF (European Handball Federation).

Among numerous awards, in 2001 he was awarded the "Award for Service to Turkish Sports," Turkey's highest sports award, presented by the Turkish National Council of Sports (TMOK). For his services to Turkish sports and handball, upon the proposal of the Ankara Provincial Directorate of Youth and Sports and the approval of the General Director of Youth and Sports and the Deputy Prime Minister responsible for sports, the name of Ankara Cebeci Hall was changed to Prof. Dr. Yaşar Sevim Handball Hall in 2006. Yaşar Sevim passed away on February 9, 2009, following a heart attack.