Inter Masajid Soccer Tournament 1

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

The night was a streaming buzz. The games were competitive, the boys energised and the air was hot with excitement. 20th of May marked a night that shall forever be memorable to Joburg south boys.

The Deen team hosted an under 17s Joburg south inter masjid soccer tournament at the Fomiss Aeroton Estro turf courts. Yes! Inter masjid! The idea behind this was to spark the beginnings of a bond between local imams/ustaads and their young musallees. How? Well the only way these young boys could register for the tournament was through their localities imams. This initiative set itself as one of a kind since the boys were now able to establish relationships with people who they can rely on during the years to come. 10 points for foresight! Another factor that made this tournament
unique was the exclusion of any females. The boys were submerged in a night dedicated to what wed like to call “clean fun”.

It all began at promptly 6pm, the gathering was blessed with the words of The Almighty, followed by an overview of what the tournament entailed and the rules pertaining to it. Number one on the list involved dress code. All players had to appear with kits that covered their satr, if anyone failed to meet this requirement they had to face it the “hard way” and forfeit the match. Next was the use of obscene language. In the event of a player swearing on field, an immediate red card was issued. One can imagine what a difficult feat this was to accomplish, especially for the soccer fanatics.
The tournament attracted a total of 14 teams. All of whom were playing till their last minute on the field, eagerly battling for the title of winning team. The enthusiasm surely showed itself as the games stretched into the late hours of the night ending at midnight. Yet there can only ever be one winner, one who can claim victory and we take our hats off for the one the only – masjidul Huda who successfully managed to reign as victorious against the Lakewood estate team. Raees Kara, captain of the winning team said he had an amazing experience, having the opportunity of meeting many friends and simply basking in the fun.

The boys were kept entertained the entire night through. There were punctual breaks for the Salah to be performed. The likes of the amazing moulana Ansaar Johaad Deen from Al Imdaad addressed the crew and had their spirits lifted for the games to come followed by Qari Umar BaSheikh who had magically got the boys to join voices and sing the praises of Allah. Another young player by the name of Ahmad Bham spoke to us, informing us of how its tournaments as such that help these boys open up, meet new people and be able to simultaneously gain something form the beneficialtalks given to them.

Well that surely was a one of a kind event but be sure its not the last of its kind! All thanks are due to Allah who without such an event would never have materialised. To all the amazing players, you were all phenomenal and we hope to see more of you. Until the next meet-up, peace.