Afghan former refugee Aminullah Yaqoubi has been appointed as Australia’s wrestling head coach ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
For the lifelong competitor, who immigrated to Australia in 2006, the October announcement was the culmination of more than 30 years of dedication to the sport.
“I’m so proud, it took me so long, not just these 13 years in Australia but the 20 years back home. It was so hard to get to this stage,” he told SBS Pashto.
“The hard work takes you there, I would never give up. I keep pushing and pushing. Now I’m trying to do my best job for the Australian wrestling team.”
Over the past decade in Australia, Amin has trained a number of young wrestlers who have gone on to compete internationally, and win medals.
His recent successes were a long way from where he began his career as a coach. 
In Afghanistan, Amin experienced significant social and political change during the rule of the Taliban (1996-2001).
Amin Yaqoubi as Australia's head coach Source: Amin Yaqubi/FB
Before the militant group took power, Amin had been providing wrestling and hand-to-hand combat training at a Kabul military club called Awrdo, which was subsequently taken over.
As a result, Amin was forced to provide coaching to Taliban militants from 1997 to 1999.
The Taliban’s brutal interpretation of Islamic law permeated into every aspect of daily life, including public executions, as a story told by Amin demonstrated.
He recalled that in 1999, during a junior national wrestling competition in Kabul, Taliban militants interrupted proceedings to carry out a public execution in the middle of a stadium.
“They [the Taliban] stopped the games midway and brought out two persons accused of committing crimes,” he said.
“The wrestling mat was in the centre of the stadium and they wanted to cut one person’s hand off and stone the other person. We begged them not to do it on wrestling mat…. Even though they were forcing people at the ground to watch the punishment, I turned my face away and couldn’t watch. It was horrible, we couldn’t continue with the matches, and my brother and I left and came home.”
He said he struggled to sleep for a week following the incident and even contemplated quitting the sport.
Amin Yaqoubi, after winning the wrestling match in Kabul Afghanistan. Source: Supplied, AY
It was during the same year, at the age of 19, that Amin decided to flee his homeland by crossing the border into Pakistan. Despite being a refugee in a new land, he soon opened a gym in the city of Peshawar.
Life in Australia
After seven years in Pakistan, Amin immigrated to Australia - a shift he said was challenging during the first few years.
“It’s so hard to start in a new country from zero, you don’t know anyone, [you have] no friends,” he said.
“When the family came here, none of them did sports, martial arts or wrestling. That was a bit hard for me to go back to studying to learn English.”
It wasn’t long before he again turned to his passion and he opened his own wrestling gym and coaching business in Melbourne.
He kickstarted his coaching career in 2010, and his students began competing at national competitions in 2011.
After dominating the national circuit, in 2015, Amin began entering his students in international competitions.
He currently runs the Mat Masters Academy, in south-east Melbourne.
Amin Yaqoubi with his team. Source: Supplied, AY
Recipe for success
Amin said wrestling was a sport that had the ability to transcend into other parts of life, and he saw his position as a way to “change the lives” of students.
It’s a recipe that’s proven successful for Australian national team wrestler Joshua Riley, who’s been under Amin’s wing since 2010.
"I was in my important teenage years and for him to help me with everything else, he's not only a coach to me, but he is like a father,” Riley said.
“He goes beyond the mats, and he's gone through a lot of things with me, that's why no matter what battles I am walking to, as long as I'm walking with him, I will always be all right."
In September, Riley achieved a top-12 finish in the men's freestyle 70kg division at the World Championships in Kazakhstan.
Joshua Riley winning a qualifying match at the World Championships in Kazakhstan. Source: Facebook
Irene Symeonidis was another student of Amin’s that continues to shine on the international stage.
She took home a silver medal in the women’s 55kg category at the recent Oceania Championships, an achievement she attributed to her coach.
Irene Symeonidis Source: SBS
"When I met Amin, he gave me the confidence to keep trying and to go into competition," she said.
"I lost a lot of my matches before I got a win, but he kept pushing me to keep trying. A lot of people may compete; they might lose and not try again. He gave me that kind of confidence."
Source: SBS
Looking ahead to Tokyo
Amin’s appointment was one of six recent coaching announcements for the Australian team.
His first test as head coach will come at the Oceania Championships in February, which is the first qualifying competition for next year's Tokyo Games.
Despite Australia's minow status on a world stage, Amin said the country continued to go from strength to strength.
“International [competitions] are very hard because all around the world, for some of the countries, wrestling is the national sport, their wrestlers start as kids, the government gives them more attention,” he said.
“Australia, unfortunately, is not that big in wrestling, but the students are doing really well, and keep getting better and better.”
