By Mahdi Abdulla Murad and Hussein A. Hussein
AUI-S Voice Staff Reporters
www.auisvoice.org
For the first time in the history of AUI-S, sports teams faced players from southern Iraq.
The women’s basketball and volleyball teams scored victories. The men’s soccer team lost 3-1, and the women’s soccer team lost 1-0 against Karbala University. The men’s volleyball team lost both its games, while the ping pong team won in the last event of the competition.
“It was amazing competition for AUI-S,” said Sahar Jamal, 19, from Baghdad. “Winning and the results are not important. What is important is that we supported the AUI-S teams. I hope we have more sport tournament in the future.”
Fans of the tournament said the highlight was the women’s basketball game, which Jamal described as the most amazing game because there were a lot of people there, and the players showed the real basketball game.
That game almost didn’t happen. The coach of the Karbala team said AUI-S had too many extra players.
“It is not right according to international rules to have 20 players,” Habeeb Ali, of Karbala University, said in Arabic. “I told the referee to judge neither by Karbala’s rules nor by AUI-S’s rules. I want you to apply the international rules.”
The dispute was resolved, and the game went on, according to the referee.
“There was a misconception between the two teams’ coaches,” Saman Burhan, 26, the referee, said in Arabic. “The AUI-S team brought 20 players, yet the Karbala’s coach said that the AUI-S team has to play with 12 players. Then they had an agreement, and the game went on.”
Burhan said both of the teams are good, but they need more training. Muhammed Ahmed, 25, from Babylon, an AUI-S student who has played with the Iraqi Olympic team, is credited for making the tournament happen.
“I found Karbala University to have a league with,” he said.
Ahmed said 24 players came from Karbala University and stayed at a motel in Sulaimani, which AUI-S funded for two days.
A men’s soccer match was cancelled at the last minute.
“I was really disappointed when we couldn’t play the second game in the big field because our soccer team was ready to play that game,” said Andy Watkins, the AUI-S men’s soccer coach.
“The thing I really liked about our players is that they played toughly. They didn’t play like other teams. They did not play to win by falling down and depending on fouls.”
One day before the Karbala team leaves Sulaimani, AUI-S invited their players to the Bowling Center, and they had a good time with some of the AUI-S teachers, staffs, and students.
Karbala University invited AUI-S to go to southern Iraq whenever AUI-S would like to go.
Ahmed said the purpose behind organizing this league is to make a good relationship between AUI-S and other Iraqi universities.
Mryam Armen, 19, an AUI-S basketball player, from Baghdad, said she was really enthusiastic about winning.
“I couldn’t imagine that our team would win the game because a few minutes before the game finished, the opponents were ahead of us by many points,” she said. “Fortunately, we won.”
Armen said it is good to have a sport tournament.
“It was really good for the reputa- tion of our University and our athletes,” she said. “The AUI-S sport teams and the players proved that they are players, and they can play very well. They proved that AUI-S has real athletes and sport teams.”
Shilan Salih, 21, an AUI-S volley- ball player, from Derbandixan, said it was their first time to play against another team.
“I hope we will have more activi- ties similar or bigger than this activity in each semester,” she said. “Moreover, I hope to see many girls to join the AUI-S women’s volley- ball team to have more fun and extend every kind of sports at AUI-S.”
Huda Majed, 20, a Karbala’s women basketball player, who studies in the Physics department, said she enjoyed the competition.
“The game was nice. Every match ends with either winning or losing, and we did our best. We were six players because AUI-S said to bring just six players, but AUI-S’s team had many alternative players, so they could switch players during the match.We did not have alternative players, so we got tired. They are a good team. We are volleyball players, yet we played football, and we won.”
AUI-S Voice Staff Reporters
www.auisvoice.org
For the first time in the history of AUI-S, sports teams faced players from southern Iraq.
The women’s basketball and volleyball teams scored victories. The men’s soccer team lost 3-1, and the women’s soccer team lost 1-0 against Karbala University. The men’s volleyball team lost both its games, while the ping pong team won in the last event of the competition.
“It was amazing competition for AUI-S,” said Sahar Jamal, 19, from Baghdad. “Winning and the results are not important. What is important is that we supported the AUI-S teams. I hope we have more sport tournament in the future.”
Fans of the tournament said the highlight was the women’s basketball game, which Jamal described as the most amazing game because there were a lot of people there, and the players showed the real basketball game.
That game almost didn’t happen. The coach of the Karbala team said AUI-S had too many extra players.
“It is not right according to international rules to have 20 players,” Habeeb Ali, of Karbala University, said in Arabic. “I told the referee to judge neither by Karbala’s rules nor by AUI-S’s rules. I want you to apply the international rules.”
The dispute was resolved, and the game went on, according to the referee.
“There was a misconception between the two teams’ coaches,” Saman Burhan, 26, the referee, said in Arabic. “The AUI-S team brought 20 players, yet the Karbala’s coach said that the AUI-S team has to play with 12 players. Then they had an agreement, and the game went on.”
Burhan said both of the teams are good, but they need more training. Muhammed Ahmed, 25, from Babylon, an AUI-S student who has played with the Iraqi Olympic team, is credited for making the tournament happen.
“I found Karbala University to have a league with,” he said.
Ahmed said 24 players came from Karbala University and stayed at a motel in Sulaimani, which AUI-S funded for two days.
A men’s soccer match was cancelled at the last minute.
“I was really disappointed when we couldn’t play the second game in the big field because our soccer team was ready to play that game,” said Andy Watkins, the AUI-S men’s soccer coach.
“The thing I really liked about our players is that they played toughly. They didn’t play like other teams. They did not play to win by falling down and depending on fouls.”
One day before the Karbala team leaves Sulaimani, AUI-S invited their players to the Bowling Center, and they had a good time with some of the AUI-S teachers, staffs, and students.
Karbala University invited AUI-S to go to southern Iraq whenever AUI-S would like to go.
Ahmed said the purpose behind organizing this league is to make a good relationship between AUI-S and other Iraqi universities.
Mryam Armen, 19, an AUI-S basketball player, from Baghdad, said she was really enthusiastic about winning.
“I couldn’t imagine that our team would win the game because a few minutes before the game finished, the opponents were ahead of us by many points,” she said. “Fortunately, we won.”
Armen said it is good to have a sport tournament.
“It was really good for the reputa- tion of our University and our athletes,” she said. “The AUI-S sport teams and the players proved that they are players, and they can play very well. They proved that AUI-S has real athletes and sport teams.”
Shilan Salih, 21, an AUI-S volley- ball player, from Derbandixan, said it was their first time to play against another team.
“I hope we will have more activi- ties similar or bigger than this activity in each semester,” she said. “Moreover, I hope to see many girls to join the AUI-S women’s volley- ball team to have more fun and extend every kind of sports at AUI-S.”
Huda Majed, 20, a Karbala’s women basketball player, who studies in the Physics department, said she enjoyed the competition.
“The game was nice. Every match ends with either winning or losing, and we did our best. We were six players because AUI-S said to bring just six players, but AUI-S’s team had many alternative players, so they could switch players during the match.We did not have alternative players, so we got tired. They are a good team. We are volleyball players, yet we played football, and we won.”
