The African Student Association hosted its first indoor soccer tournament, Tuesday Feb. 10. The competing teams were drawn from various Bellevue College organizations, programs and clubs including the African Student Association, the Associated Student Government, the Black Student Union, El Centro Latino, the Muslim Student Association, Capoeira club, and SACNAS. There was also a game between Student Programs staff and that of Multicultural Services.
The tournament was held in the Bellevue College gym from 2-6 p.m. with back to back matches in an elimination style bracket which boiled eight teams down to one winner. Preliminary matches were 15 minutes and the championship game was half an hour. There were no penalty or corner kicks, fouls or cards, and when the ball went out games would be informally restarted from the sideline. Each team consisted of six players, with the option of substituting players from the bench. According to event coordinators, there were an estimated 100-150 attendees, including the players as well as people who came to watch the show.
Thaer Abudayya, a player on the winning Muslim Student Association team, said “I would say playing in this tournament is so fun because it was a friendly championship.” The MSA team had “decided to play it as a team and win it” but claimed “It was a strong competition with the African team.” The captain of the MSA team, Seifallah Ashraf, echoed his thoughts, saying “we won because we never gave up, we had a good defense, and team work.” Essey Reda, the president of the ASA, said the tournament “was awesome. It was turned up. We students loved it and we need to do this again in the spring quarter.”
The African Student Association gave individual trophies and certificates to the semi-final teams, and the MSA received a championship trophy. Based on the successful turnout and excitement for this event, the African Student Association plans to hold another tournament in the spring.
