JEDDAH: The third annual Al Baik and Jeddah United Father And Son Basketball Tournament was held on Thursday night at Roshan Mall on Malik Road. The family event gives families a chance to bond and play together, meet the parents of their sons’ friends in a safe and healthy atmosphere.
More and more parents are supporting their sons to enjoy a healthy lifestyle and play sports. The response was great this year, and once again mothers attended and watched their husbands and sons play together, some for the first time.
Al Baik entered two teams this year in the open division, Omar Bill’s Al-Taqwah was in attendance, Capt. Assad’s Gold’s Gym entered this year, along with two teams from Jeddah United.
The under 14 division started the evening with a fun exhibition game between JU’s Lifestyle Park against the JU Juniors. The JU Juniors won by a score of 7 to 4 with last minute baskets making the difference.
All participants received trophies for their participation and enthusiasm in the “family basketball.”
In the open group each team played two games, with the four best entering the final four namely Al-Baik1, Jeddah United, Al-Taqwa, and the Gold’s Gym. Al-Baik1 won the 3rd place match against the JU team.
The final game was between Gold’s Gym and Taqwah , with Taqwah winning first place followed by the Gold’s Gym.
The objective of the tournament was to promote sports in general and strengthen family ties. Fathers and sons competed in one team against other fathers and sons, where dozens of mothers were cheering their loved ones as they played.
Dr. Samia Al-Amoudi, member of the Saudi Cancer Society and a breast cancer specialist, was one of the attendees among the crowd. She stated that according to the latest statistics, obesity has hit an alarming rate of 60 percent due to lack of exercise as one of the main causes.
Dr. Al-Amoudi was very pleased with the tournament, and said that she hopes that the culture of sports would be emphasized more in the Saudi society The referees were Amin Bahartha, and Ibraheem Alsheikhi from the Saudi Basketball Federation.
The Jeddah United organizing committee were: Obaid Madani, JUSC managing director, head coach Umar Abdul Salam, Mohannad Jiddawi, Hattan Attallah, and Hani Saeed.
Umar explained how the concept of father and son basketball is growing in an event that was never tried in Saudi Arabia.
The concept started in the US more than 20 years. It goes along with the community center concept. “It is just a blessing to see families working together, and having fun together,” said Umar.
“The partnership between Jeddah United and Al-Baik is very special,” said Madani.
“It started in 2006, and it demonstrates how a sincere private company like Al Baik has been committed to support the community and specifically “the family,” the heart of all communities.”
