Champions League in the AUC Courts
Over the next three weeks, 40 teams will be competing in the Hit Tournament, a soccer league organized by the Help Club as a way to promote the benefits of sports.
 |
| GET OUT OF MY WAY: 40 teams battle for first prize of 1600 LE each. |
The theme of the tournament, which started on Feb. 26 and runs until March 20, is the European Champion’s League. Each team, consisting of five to seven players from both within and outside the American University in Cairo (AUC), picked a European team name and made T-shirts with the team’s logo. The games are being played in the AUC main campus courts.
“The reason for [organizing] the tournament is to entertain the students and get them to [play] sports,” said Mustafa Saeed, Help Club vice president.
Help Club is a student-run club that organizes both development and awareness activities to deal with health, political and social problems. Most of the development activities are held in Old Cairo.
The Help Club sought the help of the sports department in organizing the tournament. “Our role in the league is only supervision. We provide [the league] with the courts, the equipment and security,” said Mohamed Taher, acting sports director.
The tournament is being sponsored by Power Horse energy drink, Pro Gym in Nasr City, Joly Optics, Smog and Von Dutch, said Yehia Ashraf, head of the tournament. Prizes will be presented after the final match, he added.
Prizes include both monetary awards and other benefits. First-place winners will receive L.E. 1600 each, while those in second and third place will receive L.E. 1000 and L.E. 750, respectively. Other prizes include membership in Pro Gym and a 50 percent discount in Joly Optics.
Though the Help Club organized a similar tournament last semester, some changes have been made. “The prizes are more, the organization is better, we have referees from the football federation and new rules and regulations which can ban any player [from participating] if [they behave] inappropriately,” explained Saeed.
Requirements for participating include filling out a form that includes the player’s names, and a copy of their student IDs, or national IDs for outsiders, in addition to signing a form with the rules for the teams.
Each player pays LE70 to participate and up to two outsiders are allowed on each team, said Ashraf.
“We want to win it this time. Last year we lost in the quarter finals but this time we are concentrating on doing a better job,” said Mohamed Abdel Aziz, engineering sophomore and participant in the tournament.
