First Egyptian Dodgeball Team to Participate in World Cup Championship
By: Sarah Guirguis
@SarahSamiGu
The first Egyptian dodgeball team will be representing Africa in the first World Cup Championship on April 16 and 17 in Manchester, England.
The team, which comprises 12 boys and 12 girls from different universities, was just put together last January and has been training at AUC two days a week.
“Our main purpose in going to the World Cup is to build a platform that will help us when we come back to Egypt,” said Amir Sameh, one of the team captains.
Sameh told The Caravan that they were sure it was going to be difficult to find any sponsors. That’s why the team members decided to pay from their own way to the World Cup.
“We understand that the game isn’t popular in Egypt and because of the critical situation the country is going through, it’s hard for any company to decide to invest in us or support us financially,” Sameh said.
As the team captains told The Caravan, the team practice intensely, even though they are aware of their slim chance of scoring a great win in the World Cup.
The youngest team player, Leila Wahba, 16, said the training is “tough and stressful because we will be playing against one of the toughest teams in the World Cup, but we’re still enjoying it.”
“The training techniques are new for us because we never had to actually train for dodgeball before,” said AUCian Karim Wilson, a biology freshman.
Wilson added that they learn from the European championships and constantly do fitness training with the team to improve their performance.
“We decided from the beginning that we want to focus on the future and take a step that will build a future for the game,” Sameh argued.
The team’s focus is to advance the game in Egypt. By participating in the World Cup, they wish to attract sponsors to provide fields to train in.
The team captains believe this platform will also provide a stepping stone to making the game available in clubs, schools and youth centers.
“Not many people know about dodgeball in Egypt. If some people know about it, they only know what they watched about it in that film by Ben Stiller,” said Wilson.
Sameh told The Caravan: “Sometimes we need to prove to those in authority that we’re taking serious steps in order for them to support us.”
“We want to do this because we’re convinced that in this country, it’s time for the youth to step up and take the first steps, instead of waiting for authoritative figures to pat them on the back and do everything for them,” he added.
