1st Annual SD Chaldean Basketball Tournament

1^st Annual SD Chaldean Basketball Tournament
@ SDSU Athletic Recreation Center
Sunday August 1^st, 2010
13 Team Challenge, 5-on-5
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1st Annual SD Chaldean Basketball Tournament ChaldeanBasketballTournament_04_sm

Several times a year, members of the San Diego Chaldean Community gather friends and relatives to organize sports tournaments as fundraisers for the local churches and families in need. Throughout the years, sports such as Football, Softball, Volleyball, and Soccer have been used to put together such events. This year, for the first time, a basketball tournament was organized with all Chaldean participants as a fundraiser for a specific cause.

Fundraising is a difficult, yet very important challenge and sports events are a great way to bring together a community for a good cause. Each event we’ve done has been to raise funds for a specific cause, a church, or a group of people. This year’s proceeds from the basketball tournament are going to aid our community’s newest members. Many new Chaldean families have arrived in San Diego these past several years only to find hardship and monetary difficulties while settling in their new surroundings. With a struggling economy, scarcity in jobs available, and minimal government assistance for the newcomers, basic home necessities aren’t available for our fellow Chaldeans. With the help of local and national sponsors of the tournament, along with the players and spectators, we were able to generate enough proceeds to assist some of these families. The proceeds from the event were used to purchase basic home necessities that the struggling families greatly need. Some of the products donated to these families were blankets, sheets, pots and pans, plates, phone cards, shampoos, soaps, tooth brushes and toothpaste, and many other household items.

This event, the 1^st annual Chaldean Basketball Tournament, was dedicated to an outstanding member of our community that was lost this past year. Andre Askar was a big part of the community and was a great friend to many of the participants of the tournament. Along with the tournament being in his memory, the winners of the tournament had their names engraved in The Andre Askar Memorial Trophy as this year’s champions. This trophy will be used in each of the annual basketball tournaments held in San Diego. Andre’s wonderful personality positively impacted many of the participants and volunteers of this event and this dedication is a way of keeping Andre forever a part of our community.

13 teams, comprised of 8 players per team, competed for the championship. At a captain’s meeting two days before the tournament, names were drawn and the teams were randomly split into four groups. The teams in each group competed for a birth into the semi-finals of the tournament. The top four teams then played for the championship. As the fans looked on, the superior athletic ability of the players in the tournament was quite evident. Players of all ages and sizes fought hard in each game from beginning to end. Their passion for the game made the tournament action packed and had all the fans sitting at the edge of their seats. Even the final game, a game that most expected to be a landslide victory, came down to the wire till the very last seconds of the game. While team “Dream Team” was leading practically the entire final game, team “The Big 8” tried their best to keep it close. In a surprising finish, The Big 8 pulled ahead with great shots and superb defense and were named the 2010 Champions.

Remon Mansour

تكبير الصورة تصغير الصورة تم تعديل ابعاد هذه الصورة. انقر هنا لمعاينتها بأبعادها الأصلية.

تكبير الصورة تصغير الصورة تم تعديل ابعاد هذه الصورة. انقر هنا لمعاينتها بأبعادها الأصلية.

تكبير الصورة تصغير الصورة تم تعديل ابعاد هذه الصورة. انقر هنا لمعاينتها بأبعادها الأصلية.
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