GEZIRA's under-14 girl's basketball team, transformed from shy to super females in just four months, has won the Cairo Zone tournament for the first time, topping powerhouses Heliopolis and Ahli.
The team won 18 times and lost just twice en route to the championship. The squad has now qualified for the national basketball championship which will take place after the Eid holidays later this month.
"I've been preparing them for a long time and now I gather the fruits of my labour," said Gezira coach Mohamed Ali. "Training the girls is tiring," added Ali, popularly known as Moody. "It needs a lot of effort on their part. As for myself, I must be firm while building bridges of friendship."
Moody said the girls' strength, stamina and speed were less than boys but that did not deter him from taking on the job.
From June to September, the 16 girls followed a gruelling schedule, training twice a day six days a week. During school days, training became limited to a two-hour session three times a week.
"The key to victory is their stamina and speed," says Aya Toubar, a basketball player in the U-16 Ahli squad who has been monitoring her Gezira counterpart s. "They have changed a lot in the U-18 and U-14." Toubar had special praise for twins Rasha and Reem Bakir, Rahma Hamdi and Heba Ismail. "All should watch out for the basketball girls in Gezira Club," Toubar added.
"I would never have dreamt running from club to club, reading the sports pages and following the events," said the twins' mother, Mariam El-Ghannam. "I became so involved in the game, more so than I could have imagined," added El- Ghannam, an English-language teacher. "Basketball friends became a welcomed family at home." A cousin of Rasha and Reem, Rahma, is also a key player. "They live to play," said El-Ghannam.
EUROPE smashed Africa 38-6, on points, in football's under-17 Meridian Cup held in Egypt.
The cup brings together the best under-17 teams from Europe and Africa -- four from each continent. Spain, Switzerland, England and France made up Europe while Africa comprised hosts Egypt, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Mali.
Staged every two years since 1997, the format for the victor changed in 2001. No one team wins. Rather, it is a continental effort. That year, Europe beat Africa on points 36-8.
In Egypt, Burkina Faso and Nigeria collected two points each while Egypt and Mali could muster only one.
Spain was named Europe's best team while Burkina Faso was selected Africa's top squad. France collected the Fair Play Cup, Spain's Jonathan Jiliano won MVP honours and teammate Gabriel Reiaz was chosen the No 1 goalkeeper.
The tournament, which opened with a showcase gala match involving Ajax of Amsterdam and Ahli of Egypt, is held under the Children and War logo and has the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Egyptian Red Crescent as official charity partners to help raise awareness of their humanitarian campaign designed to protect children in war-torn regions.
Matches were played in Ismailia, Port Said and the city of Canal.
The Meridian Cup itself is 40 centimetres high and weighs seven kilogrammes. The top part, made of Plexiglas, is a globe onto which all the continents are engraved. The sphere is crossed by a line that represents the centre of a football field.
At the opening ceremony, African federation head Eissa Hayatou said, "African teams have benefited a lot from taking part in this event. It helps young players get in contact with each other exchanging different techniques of football."
