JEDDAH, 14 February 2007 — The Kingdom’s first-ever women’s street basketball tournament took place last week with 12 teams participating in the two-day competition to come first in a grueling display of unique sportsmanship here.
Organized by the JUSC (Jeddah United Sports Company), the tournament was held with the aim of promoting sports and an ethos of sportsmanship among women and more importantly encouraging inter-cultural exchanges among women of different nationalities in the Kingdom.
Participating in the tournament were Jeddah United (division A, B and C), the College of Business Administration (CBA) (division A and B), the Turkish School, the International Indian School (divisions A and B), Jags (division A and B), and the American International School of Jeddah (AISJ) (division A and B).
Street basketball is played half court with three players on court and one substitute for each team. On the first day of play the teams each played 10 minutes. The second day saw a continuation of the games in which only four teams qualified for the semi finals – Jeddah United (A and B), Jags, and the Jeddah International Turkish School. Refereeing the matches were Sherry Nassif and Nayla Filimban.
The players family and friends attended the tournament to provide moral support and encouragement.. The junior girls cheer leaders added much spirit and life to the sporting atmosphere and the Turkish team’s high spirit and chanting echoed the courts with “ole, ole, ole ole, champions Turkia.”
The semifinals and finals were each 24-minute long games. Jeddah United B came third beating Turkish School 9-7. The Jeddah United (A) came first beating Jags 14-9, who came second.
First place winners of the tournament were Jeddah United A comprising Lina Almaeena (captain), Karin Alghamdi, Nora Ashrour and Marwa Ashrour. Second place winners were Jags comprising Tara Fatani (captain), Isra Gadri, Sara Haddadi, and Lina Bajnaid. Third place winners were Jeddah United B comprising Hazma Alireza (captain), Zein Attar, Shatha Baksh and Hilda Milhis.
The Turkish School comprising Ebru Uzen (captain), Zehrilbon Gakir, Selin Kodaman and Burcu Uzen came fourth. The Turkish coach was Oya Varol. Guest of honor Salma Alireza handed trophies and medals to winning teams. Coaching the three Jeddah United teams was Pat Siddiq and organizing the event was Dania Almaeena, Shaza Rajab, Hanadi Asaad, Sara Almaeena, Nasreen Almaeena, Rabea Abdullah, and Ammar Nassif from the junior boys division.
Participating teams, the organizers and spectators gave their special thanks to Second Cup for offering their finest of coffees and their new Italian cold drinks. Gifts were distributed to the audience by Givenchy perfumes and cosmetics.
The event could not have been possible without the sponsorship of Watani Super Centers, the first hypermarket in Saudi Arabia by Aya Mall. Watani can be accredited to not having just supported the tournament but also promoted women’s sports and inter-cultural communication among different international communities in Jeddah.