Volleyball player Miguel Maya announced his retirement at the age of 52.

Volleyball player Miguel Maia announced his retirement from the sport on Tuesday, leaving behind a 36-year professional legacy, scoring two Olympic fourth places in Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000) with Joao Breña on the beach.

In an emotional ceremony at the Centro Multimeios de Espinho, the biggest name in Portuguese volleyball and a unique example of longevity in top-level sports explained his decision to his family, sports colleagues, friends, the media and dozens of fans.

“This is my goodbye. At the age of 52, I am ending my career as a volleyball player. I have dedicated my life to this sport and will dedicate it, now with other functions. Can’t say what I feel. It’s a mixture of pride and nostalgia. I never imagined that I would finish, and did not want to do this for all this time, but the time has come, ”the player sentenced.

In its long journey, in addition to Olympic achievements, the pavilion has 15 first division championships, 10 Portuguese cups, six national super cups and a notable win for the now-extinct Top Teams Cup, a European competition it won with Sporting CP. Espinho, in 2001/2002, among many other awards, of which there are more than 80, between individual and collective.

Despite the accolades and fame he has brought to Portuguese volleyball, Miguel Maia feels he is still indebted to the sport, which he insists on continuing to serve in the future, regardless of the functions it serves.

“I’m ending these days as a player, but it won’t end. I will continue to serve the modality that has helped me so much. I can assure you that I will do it with the same passion. You can count on me as a coach, manager or another role where I can be another one – it was worth it,” he assured.

In this sense, a player who ended up at the Espinho Academy where he also started his journey, and who was particularly famous in Sporting de Espinho and Sporting CP, also recorded a short spell in the Italian team of Reim Crema in 2003. 2004 made an important discovery when the distributor announced his future candidacy for the post of President of the Portuguese Volleyball Federation.

“I already did it in person, I will do it again here in public. Your Excellency President Professor Vicente Araujo, I hereby pledge that after deciding to leave the excellent work that you have done for decades and I hope to continue for much longer, I, Miguel Barbosa Maya, am ready to put forward my candidacy for the President of the Portuguese Volleyball Federation.” , he said.

Towards the end of the performance, Miguel Maia took the opportunity to make a symbolic testimonial by giving his son Guilherme Maia, with whom he shared a dressing room at the Académica de Espinho for the last two seasons, the symbolic jersey number 8, the number with which he became famous. .

Without saying goodbye to “pomp and circumstance” as his legacy might have predicted, the player said he preferred to leave the way he started, modestly, with no plans in advance.

“I left through the door I entered with humility and many dreams mixed in. I could do it in different ways, even with a farewell game, with a win, with a title, at a less tired age. But everything was flowing the same way as it began: without any special plans. Even in my wildest dreams, I didn’t imagine that I would be playing for so long,” he concluded.