AUC Titans Score Victory Against Cairo Hellhounds
By: Deena Sabry and Ahmed Zada
The AUC Titans woman’s football team scored 26 points against the Cairo Hellhounds in the fourth annual Egyptian Flag Football League (EFFL) on February 17, to take their first victory in four years.
“It felt amazing to win. It was our first match so we had a huge crowd. The boys’ team was there for us in the stands,” said Titans member Touka Aref.
But it was an uphill battle for the Titans who were all nerves because they knew very little about the Hellhounds.
But they took the field as a unit with the mentality of one team willing to do anything to win; team members on offense scored three touchdowns while those on defense scored another touchdown and did not cede ground to the Hellhounds.
“We didn’t expect it obviously but it was a big deal in the entire league because there was a stereotype about the AUC team, that we weren’t going to do anything but we proved them wrong.”
Head Coach of AUC Football Terry Baits said that the win was very important for the team and they hoped for many more.
“Time does not matter, as long as at the end we achieve our goals and we work together as one big determined family,” he told The Caravan.
The league consists of a total of 700 players, divided into 16 teams, eight male and eight female. The women’s league differs from the men’s because the teams play flag and not tackle football.
“We prepared for the league by training during winter break really hard, we had the preseason and we trained three times a week,” Titans member Touka Aref told The Caravan.
This is the first league competition for the Titans, which was first established in February 2014.
But football and all team competitions were suspended in 2016 after Omar Khaled, the men’s team’s offensive guard died during a match.
Both the men’s and women’s teams kept up to date with how other teams outside AUC were doing.
“This is the first league the girls play so there are things we already know and things we will get through experience by seeing other teams and apply what they do,” said Sherif Zeid, Titans president and coach of the women’s team.
He said that the young women are now focusing on promoting the team and American Football in Egypt.
Additional reporting by Farida Ayoub.
