AFGHAN CUP 2007 - 10TH ANNIVERSARY
In the largest sports gathering outside of Afghanistan over 7000 Afghans from all over the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia gathered at the Discovery Center Soccerplex in the suburbs of Washington DC to celebrate the Afghan Sports Federation’s 10th Anniversary of the 4th of July sporting events.
The four day event which began on July 5th in Fairfax County VA, in two different locations with 14 soccer teams, 10 basketball teams, 6 men’s volleyball teams and 5 women’s volleyball teams came to a conclusion on July 8th, 2007. The soccer Championship was played at the world class stadium with three other Championships from men’s basketball, women’s volleyball, and men’s volley ball were played in the courts inside the gymnasium earlier.
After the conclusion of the final game between Breshna Soccer Club of New York and Afghan United of California, trophy presentation was followed by a live concert by the famous young Afghan artist Habib Qaderi which ended the celebration at midnight on Sunday.
The program started early in the afternoon inside the huge indoor complex, international sponsors, local vendors, and afghan cuisine served by several restaurants setup their tables and displays then got ready for the spectators and fans that had come from all over the US. Afghans from California, Canada, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Texas, Missouri, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and the Washington DC Metro Area as well as Europe and Asia all gathered in one place to watch the games and see each other in an event that has become a tradition among Afghans living not in the United States but also all over the World.
Hundreds of soccer, basketball, and volleyball players, men and women, and thousands of their fans and supporters came and watched the games and enjoyed the festivities. As most fans have agreed that these annual events have become a landmark for Afghans all over the World.
After the final games, trophies and medals were awarded to the wining teams and players by ASF’s Executive Committee members Ajmal Ghani A., Atiq Panjshiri, Sulaiman Lutfi, and Zia Panjshiri as well as other ASF officials Ismail Husseini and Arsalan and Kamran Lutfi.
Afghan United of California beat Breshna of N.Y. and was crowned “Afghan Cup 2007” Champions for soccer.
Tawab Arsala was chosen the MVP of the tournament for the first time this year.
Afghan Ballers of N.Y. was crowned the basketball Champions, Ariana of N.Y. was the runner up.
Team Bakthar of California won the men’s volleyball games with Pamir of Virginia gaining the second spot.
Pink Ladies of Virginia beat four other teams to become the 2007 women’s volleyball winners.
There were youth games in the last day with boys basketball games played in the gymnasium before the finals and the girls and boys soccer games in the main stadium right before the finals. As one youngster observed “this is the greatest moment in my life” which shows this will have a long lasting positive impact on these young athletes. The young athletes were awarded medals by ASF officials Abdullah Monawar and Ahmad Wali Yaqubi to encourage youth participation in sports and their future development.
The events were covered by the local media as well as Afghan TV’s Ariana T.N., VOA T.V., as well as Afghan publications.
“This year being the tenth anniversary of our events, we worked extra hard and it paid off handsomely for the community. I attribute this to the hard work of the Afghan Sports Federation's personnel, volunteers, and the management "said Mr. Ajmal Ghani A. President of the Afghan Sports federation. It was also the first time that all Afghan squads were invited to participate in these invitation only events; as ASF officials put it “in order for Afghan athletes to shine we have decided to start a new tradition. We hope that these athletes someday will be able to represent their country in international competitions along their colleagues from Afghanistan”.
