‘That’s why I never gave up’ Volleyball lifeline for Manitoba Bisons’ Dadash-Adeh By: Joshua Frey-Sam Posted: 4:59 PM CDT Monday, May. 11, 2026

Karil Dadash-Adeh’s story isn’t an easy one for him to tell.

The 24-year-old is deliberate with every word he speaks when revealing how he fled Iran five years ago and went AWOL on a mandatory two-year military service to chase a dream in volleyball.

In a world where you never know who is reading, he is certain to maintain his family’s safety.

The decision to leave home was justifiably challenging for a then 19-year-old phenom, but Dadash-Adeh knew that his only other option could kill him and almost certainly spike any ambition that he had on the court.

“It’s in my nature to be successful, to be honest with you,” the former Manitoba Bison standout told the Free Press recently by phone from Turkey, where he is vacationing with his parents, whom he sees once per year.

“That’s why I never gave up.”

Raised as an only child in an Assyrian family of devoted Christians, Dadash-Adeh describes a life of inequity in a Middle Eastern society that favours those who rest in Muslim faith.

To his knowledge, Dadash-Adeh remains the only Christian volleyball player to play on the Iranian junior national team since the Islamic Republic of Iran was proclaimed in 1979.

By all counts, he was one of the top talents in the country. As a teen, he played in the competitive Iranian Super League, where he was recognized as one of the league’s three best young players.

“For two years of your life, you can’t do anything. You can’t play volleyball, you can’t study, you’re away from your family, and you’re literally in a third-world country, ready to fight.”

The 2021 U21 World Championships in Italy were supposed to be a defining tournament that would effectively put him on the radar of professional clubs across the globe, but 10 days before the tournament, he was removed from the team, owing to his religious beliefs.

“I remember even at one point the government body had told Iran’s federation that, ‘Because his name is Karil, we don’t want him on the TV,’” he recalled.

Suddenly, 18 years old and a mandatory military service looming, Dadash-Adeh felt his career was at a crossroads.

“One thing you’ve got to know about the military is that for two years of your life, you can’t do anything. You can’t play volleyball, you can’t study, you’re away from your family, and you’re literally in a third-world country, ready to fight,” said Dadash-Adeh.

“For someone like me who wanted to pursue the sport of volleyball, serving in the military was literally going to kill the whole thing.”

And maybe him.

Dadash-Adeh, who had already been issued a Schengen visa to attend the U21 World Championships, left for Italy, where he was picked up by Lube Civitanova.

He practised with the club for two months before transferring to Chaumont Volley-Ball 52 in France, where he was the men’s league’s youngest player and the first Iranian to play in the circuit.

“For someone like me who wanted to pursue the sport of volleyball, serving in the military was literally going to kill the whole thing.”

Dadash-Adeh’s contract with the club ended eight months later, and without a French citizenship and much money to his name, he left for the United States in search of an education and further development.

His lone offer for a full scholarship came from Campbellsville University in Kentucky, where Dadash-Adeh became the first Iranian to play in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

While attending Campbellsville, Dadash-Adeh translated every lecture and exam in Persian to understand what he was studying. Despite his work taking him twice as long to complete, he managed a 3.87 GPA.

On the court, he continued to shine and, in the fall of 2023, received an offer from the University of California, Los Angeles. But — again — Dadash-Adeh ran into trouble with becoming a U.S. citizen.

His study visa was set to expire, and he was at risk of being deported back home.

Around that time, the controversial death of Jina Mahsa Amini started a women’s rights revolution in Iran, and the Canadian government stepped forward to offer refuge in the form of a work permit and, eventually, permanent residency for those caught in the middle of it.

“I saw that as an opportunity,” said Dadash-Adeh, who began sending his game tape to Canadian universities.

Two responded immediately: the University of British Columbia and the University of Manitoba.

UBC could not immediately offer a full scholarship because he would arrive after the season had already started, so with his career on the line, the 6-8 opposite hitter chose Manitoba, where he has proved to be one of the best decisions head coach Lupo Ludwig has made for the last two and a half seasons.

“When you just see what he went through to get out of Iran and then coming all the way here, I think that’s a pretty big journey, and I think that makes you grow up pretty quick in your life,” Ludwig said.

“When you look at what’s going on there right now, he would probably be a front-row military service in this war.”

In an effort to get his permanent residency, Dadash-Adeh worked full time — something he is still doing (he isn’t a permanent resident yet) — while being a full-time student and a full-time athlete.

“When you look at what’s going on there right now, he would probably be a front-row military service in this war.”

Even while juggling all that, Dadash-Adeh has been described as one of the most charismatic personalities on the Fort Gary campus.

“He’s a really exceptional human being, and just the way he carries himself,” Ludwig added. “If anything bad happens, he dwells on it, but then he’s like, ‘Well, I have to keep going.’ That’s the same thing with relationships: if there is a fight, Karil is always the first one who would end it or say, ‘Move on. Let’s get back together, we have a common goal.’”

Dadash-Adeh brought distinct power to the Bisons’ attack, as he helped the team win silver at the Canada West conference championships and claim bronze at the U Sports national championships last season — the program’s first medal at nationals in 14 years.

He became the program’s record holder for most aces in a regular season (rally scoring era) with 53 in 2024-25, and set a record for the most aces in a match this winter (eight against MacEwan on Jan. 23). His 85 career aces are the fourth-most all-time in program history.

“The person, I’m very different. The challenges I faced matured me very quickly,” he said, adding that U Sports surpassed his expectations of how much it would develop his game.

“Winnipeg, Manitoba, has been a big blessing for me. The amount of support I got from our coaching staff… all the way to the athletic department.

“The entire university, whoever I met, was amazing.”

Dadash-Adeh’s career in Manitoba will end despite him having one more year of eligibility. He recently signed a pro contract to play for Romano Giannini’s Italian club, Pallavolo Macerata, which plays in one of the most competitive Second Divisions in the world.

Last week, Dadash-Adeh found out that he suffered a torn labrum in his left shoulder during the Bisons’ national bronze run — a painful injury he played through.

Now, with a contract that can be terminated if he isn’t healthy when the season begins in August, he faces another pivotal decision. Surgery would knock him out for anywhere from six to 12 months, which would mean he needs a speedy recovery to have a shot at passing his physical.

His other option is to go without surgery and hope it heals well enough in the next three months. However, not having surgery could also put him at risk for more chronic shoulder issues for the rest of his career.

“I do not mind grinding through the pain, as long as I can perform to the best of my ability. The problem with a torn labrum is you’re not able to put as much force behind the ball, and my playing style is so much power,” Dadash-Adeh said, adding he still needs to confer with his agent. “That’s going to change the whole thing.”

It’s not an easy decision. Then again, nothing about Dadash-Adeh’s story has been easy.

“If I knew the amount of challenges I was going to face with the decision I made for going to Manitoba and all this journey, I wouldn’t volunteer for it. First of all, it was extremely difficult to manage your livelihood when you’re alone, and you have to figure out everything yourself,” he said.

Dadash-Adeh also doesn’t regret it for a second.

“I absolutely don’t. I think I’m in the best position ever in my life that I could’ve been, but it was very, very difficult. Now that I’m looking back on it, managing it all was very difficult.”

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