American football now in Egypt's court.

They may lack the necessary equipment and proper coaching but the Gridiron Club has the enthusiasm, determination and potential to take American football in Egypt to another level of skill and popularity.

Having started in March 2007 with 30 players, Gridiron Club organized their first American football tournament last week with the participation of more than 120 players.

The final of the Gridiron Christmas tournament took place last Saturday between the BIGS and the Warriors on a football field at the youth center in El-Tagammu El-Awal. The Warriors won 35-14.

Though played in a friendly atmosphere, the competitiveness of players on both sides couldn't be overlooked. The unmistakable determination of each team on winning resulted in a great game, with players objecting to some of the referee's decisions.

Eight teams participated in the tournament comprising students from different universities including Misr International University (MIU), the German University in Cairo (GUC), Canadian International College (CIC) and 10th of Ramadan University.

These, however, don't represent the entire the American football society in Egypt; the Faculty of Engineering at Cairo University has an unofficial team but didn't make it to this tournament.

"It is an obsession," Karim Nabil, one of the players said.

Fellow player Karim Zeyada agreed. "I have always wanted to play American football, so it was great to have the chance to learn and play it," he said.

This 'obsession' had materialized in Egypt when five people, who wanted to introduce the game to the country, created a league. They comprise of Ahmed El Refaay, Yehia Khairallah, Rami Salah, Ahmed Nasr and Adam El Zoghby, a former professional handball player at Al Ahly club who also played for the national team.

"Ahmed El Refaay sent us e-mails to tell us about the game and we were very interested in joining him. Soon we started our training after an introductory session in which we learned the rules of the game," Nabil said.

Training sessions usually last for four hours on almost daily basis and include warm ups, extensive fitness workouts and individual drills for different field positions.

Training sessions, sometimes gathering more than 200 players, were initially held at a field in Abassiya, and then moved to the Air Force Club. For the five months preceding the tournament, training was put on hold for different reasons; it only resumed a few days before the tournament.

Given the physical and aggressive nature of the game, possibilities of injuries and quarrels between players are high; however, organizers said that there hasn't been a single injury or a fight.

"We came to know each other through playing this game so we take care of each other; also we understand the physical nature of the game so we know that there is nothing personal and we are all friends," Zeyada said.

The founders of the Gridiron have set ambitious goals for themselves such as establishing an American football federation, starting a national league for the game, forming an Egyptian national team and eventually qualifying for the World Cup.

A show game played at the GUC between players from the university and the Gridiron Club attracted a relatively large audience. New aspiring players signed up after the game.

There were attempts to bring a Turkish team to play in Egypt but they fell through.

"We only achieved 0.5 percent of our goals because of the problems of funding and sponsorship as well as the absence of a legitimate publicized federation," El Refaay, the tournament's organizer and the main founder of the club told Daily News Egypt.

"We lack the equipment necessary because they cost more than LE 2,000 per player and we import them C* we don't have the funding or sponsorship to cover these costs," he said.

"If I can secure the necessary funding, I can make this game the second popular sport in Egypt," he added.

Currently there is a federation for the game formed of 10 youth centers and four clubs. However, these clubs lack teams and the federation isn't recognized by the National Council for Sports, the official government body responsible for such procedure.Aa

According to El Refaay, there have been attempts to establish an officially recognized federation but were hindered by the National Council's bureaucratic obstacles.

"To attract sponsors there must be a legitimate federation and sizable audience so we are working on the three areas equally," Khairallah said.

A spring tournament will be held on March 27-29 and plans to get the Faculty of Physical Education in Giza to host it are underway.

Gridiron is also planning a college tournament where 16 teams from different universities compete head to head.

"We need volunteers in coaching especially foreigners who know the game well and can help us improve," El Refaay said.

You can contact Gridiron Club at [e-mail] .

Daily NewsEgypt 2007

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