Mascot to Boost Basketball Team’s Performance

By: Khaled Morshedy

In an attempt to boost the performance of AUC sports teams, the university will introduce a mascot, a symbol for the university’s teams; especially the basketball one.

Whether students voted for the fox, eagle or crocodile, the mascot would be used to cheer for team AUC.

Coach Nick Gjorvad wants students to get involved in the sport and support their team. “We get a lot of energy when people cheer us on. I think it’s great that we’re getting a mascot; school pride really makes a difference,” said Gjorvad.

Gjorvad is AUC’s new coach for the Basketball team, whom the players are excited about. He used to play on AUC’s team as well as in many city leagues in the United States and in Scotland.

“One of the things we’re trying to do is bringing the strategies Americans use in college level that will benefit us, because we are a quick team, we have a lot of quickness on the team; so we really want to utilize that,” said Gjorvad. “That is what our strategies are based on. We’ve been practicing really well.”

Some players on the team say that Gjorvad’s skills are moving the team forward. Ahmed El Gindy, the team’s captain, said that Gjorvad is young and passionate about the sport and the team. He added that the new coach is trying to bring American basketball college spirit to AUC.

“Nick is a great coach…he has a lot of experience in college basketball, and gives the team a positive spirit”, said Medhat Hassanein, an Economics junior and a player on the team since 2010.

AUC’s basketball team was not performing well the last couple of years in comparison to the years before. Last year, the team lost in both the National and Sector tournaments. On the National level, they lost at their first qualifying match, which made them leave the tournament.

Players on the team agree that the sport needs support from the AUC community and administration. “On the old campus, the basketball court was in the center of the campus; it encouraged students to watch and cheer [on] the team,” said Ahmed El Gindy, adding, “Now the university doesn’t offer scholarships to team players unless they win the first place on their club’s [team]; it used to [include] second and third places.”

As cheering helps teams win, Coach Gjorvad hopes that a lot of students come to watch the matches and support the team.