Fırat Kaya (born 2 January 1995) is a Germany-born Turkish footballer. He is a member of the Turkey national deaf football team.

Private life

Fırat Kaya was born to Turkish-descent parents, Yıldırım and Sevg, as the youngest of two children in

Schwäbisch Hall Schwäbisch Hall (; 'Swabian Hall'; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of the N ...

, Germany on 2 January 1995. The

hearing loss Hearing loss is a partial or total inability to hear. Hearing loss may be present at birth or acquired at any time afterwards. Hearing loss may occur in one or both ears. In children, hearing problems can affect the ability to acquire spo ...

boy started to play football at a young age.

Club career

At age 15, Kaya became an amateur footballer playing as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

in the youth teams of

VfR Mannheim VfR Mannheim is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg formed in 1911 out of the fusion of Mannheimer FG 1896, Mannheimer FG 1897 Union, and FC Viktoria 1897 Mannheim. The club captured the n ...

(2010–203). His professional career started with Eintracht Plankstadt (2013–14). He later played for the teams VfR Mannheim (2013–14), SF Schwäbisch Hall (2014–15), TSV Nellmersbach (2015–16), TSG Giengen (2015–16),

SC 04 Schwabach The SC 04 Schwabach is a German association football club from Schwabach, suburb of the city of Nuremberg, Bavaria. The club was established in 1996, when TSV 04 Schwabach merged with 1. SC Schwabach to form SC 04 Schwabach. Of those two clubs ...

(2016–17) and TSV Kornburg (2017–18. While playing again for SF Schwäbisch Hall (2018–19) in Germany, he moved to Turkey and signed a five-month contract with

Tokatspor Tokatspor is a Turkish football club based in Tokat. The club, which has maroon-white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite o ...

in January 2019. He played in nine matches of the 2018–19

TFF Second League The TFF 2. Lig (), currently referred to as Nesine 2. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the third level in the Turkish football league system. It was founded in the 2001–02 season with the name of ''Turkish Second League Category B'' as a continu ...

's second half and scored two goals. He became so the first hearing-loss footballer to play in the Turkish professional football leagues. After the end of the Turkish league season, the right-wing forward returned to Germany, and joined TSG Öhringen (2019–20). The next season, he signed a one-year contract with the

Verbandsliga Württemberg The Verbandsliga Württemberg is a German amateur football division administered by the Württemberg Football Association, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the top flight of the Württemberg state association, the Verbandslig ...

club SV Fellbach (2020–21) in the beginning of September 2020. In his club career in Germany and Turkey between 2013 and 2021, he scored a total of 15 goals in 48 matches he played in the Bayernliga Süd, Landesliga Bayern-Süd/Oberbayern, Turkish TFF Second League,

and Landespokal Württemberg.

International career

;Germany national deaf football team Kaya became a member of the Germany national deaf football team, and participated at the

2013 Summer Deaflympics The 2013 Summer Deaflympics (), officially known as the 22nd Summer Deaflympics (), was an international multi-sport event that took place in Sofia, Bulgaria from July 26 to August 4, 2013. The marathon had been held before in Füssen, Germany o ...

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, Bulgaria. He scored one goal in five matches. He enjoyed his team's third place. ;Turkey national deaf football team He later preferred to join the Turkey national deaf football team. He took part in all six matches of the

2017 Summer Deaflympics The 2017 Summer Deaflympics (), officially known as the 23rd Summer Deaflympics (), is an international multi-sport event that took place in Samsun, Turkey from July 18 to July 30, 2017. 3,148 athletes from 97 countries competed in 18 sports with ...

held in

Samsun Samsun is a List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, city on the north coast of Turkey and a major Black Sea port. The urban area recorded a population of 738,692 in 2022. The city is the capital of Samsun Province which has a population of ...

, Turkey. He scored one goal in the match against

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, and another goal in the tournament's final match against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. He enjoyed his team's champion title. He played in the qualification group match for European Championship against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He netted two goals in the match, which Turkey won by 5–0. He played in the qualification match for the EuroDeaf 2019 against

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

in June 2018, and was instrumental for Turkey's qualification with 1-0 scoring the winning goal. He played in five matches at the Euro 2019 held in

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

, Greece. He was named "Top goalscorer" of the championship with 9 goals netted in four matches. He played in two matches of the 2022 Summer Deaflympics qualification round against Czech Republic and France. He scored one goal in the match against Czech Republic, which ended 6-0 for Turkey. Winning over the both teams, the national team qualified for the Games to be held in

Caxias do Sul Caxias do Sul () is a city in Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil, situated in the state's mountainous Serra Gaúcha region. It was established by Italian Brazilian, Italian immigrants on June 20, 1890. Today it is the second Largest cities in R ...

, Brazil.

Honours

Individual

;Turkey national deaf football team :''Top goalscorer'' (1): EuroDeaf 2019 (9 goals)

International

;Germany national deaf football team :''Third places'' (1):

;Turkey national deaf football team :''Champions'' (1):

References

External links

Fırat Kaya @ Deaflympics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaya, Firat 1995 births Living people People from Schwäbisch Hall Footballers from Stuttgart (region) German sportspeople of Turkish descent German deaf people Deaf association football players German men's footballers VfR Mannheim players Germany men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Turkish men's footballers Players of deaf football German disabled sportspeople Turkish disabled sportspeople Turkish deaf people 21st-century German sportsmen 21st-century Turkish sportsmen