Unity Cup 2010 Review
Posted on 4 May @ 21:02, 2010 - Printer Friendly Page -
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The Unity Cup has been held for the last 3 years as a fun day for the Muslim community to get together and meet whilst getting to see our best and bravest fight it out on the battlefield known as Windy Hill in Essendon.
This year we saw North Melbourne Football Club becoming involved as one of the sponsors of the event as well as the founding sponsors, the Essendon Football Club and the Australian Federal Police. There was also involvement from the Victoria Police, Sports Without Borders and of course the participating teams - IISNA, Newport Islamic Society, the Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) and Flemington/Eritrean Islamic Society.
This year IISNA faced a hardened line-up who no doubt wished to knock IISNA off of their perch, considering we had won the past 2 Unity Cups. Newport fielded a younger and faster team than before and seemed to be a strong opponent, that was until IISNA managed to beat them quite convincingly in the opening match. From there it was an easy run for our boys who defeated the 2 remaining opponents, ICV and Flemington to make it to the final. Newport managed to win the rest of their games and for the 3rd consecutive year IISNA and Newport faced each other in the final after the round robin had finished and all teams had met each other.
The IISNA team was led by their mastermind coach Rashid and was lead by their courageous captain Tarek into the final game. There was talk of the game simply being a mere formality until IISNA again held high the Unity Cup in victory, however the team was not going to be fooled and were ready to give it their best and to not let down their previous unbeaten performance.
Once the game got underway, IISNA managed to lead the game and to control it for the whole 4 quarters, keeping Newport almost goalless for the entire match. By the time of the 4th quarter it was clear that the IISNA team was again the strongest and most deserving of being this year's champions. By the time the siren sounded, IISNA had managed to defeat Newport with the following score:
IISNA: 5 3 (33)
Newport: 1 3 (9)
It was no doubt a great day for the IISNA team but it was also a day enjoyed by all those who attended, being able to browse through the stalls and sisplays that were set up around the oval. There was a jumping castle for the kids, a chance to meet Essendon players and to get their autographs, a number of police displays (perhaps the most exciting of which was a chance to beat a police officer dressed in full riot gear, for the kids only of course) as well as an Islamic information stall ran by IISNA and free (halal) pies and hot dogs.
IISNA would like to thank all of those who participated in the day as well as those who represented us on the field for their hard work. A big thanks goes to the Essendon and North Melbourne football clubs for their great support in looking after the teams and for being amazingly helpful in making sure everything went to plan on the day. The AFP as they always have been were very helpful in making sure the event was a success and ran efficiently and securely and our thanks goes out to them and the Victoria Police for their ongoing support.
We look forward to next year's Unity Cup and seeing you all there again as well as many new faces.
The question that remains to be answered though is - who will be able to beat IISNA in 2011?
This year we saw North Melbourne Football Club becoming involved as one of the sponsors of the event as well as the founding sponsors, the Essendon Football Club and the Australian Federal Police. There was also involvement from the Victoria Police, Sports Without Borders and of course the participating teams - IISNA, Newport Islamic Society, the Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) and Flemington/Eritrean Islamic Society.
This year IISNA faced a hardened line-up who no doubt wished to knock IISNA off of their perch, considering we had won the past 2 Unity Cups. Newport fielded a younger and faster team than before and seemed to be a strong opponent, that was until IISNA managed to beat them quite convincingly in the opening match. From there it was an easy run for our boys who defeated the 2 remaining opponents, ICV and Flemington to make it to the final. Newport managed to win the rest of their games and for the 3rd consecutive year IISNA and Newport faced each other in the final after the round robin had finished and all teams had met each other.
The IISNA team was led by their mastermind coach Rashid and was lead by their courageous captain Tarek into the final game. There was talk of the game simply being a mere formality until IISNA again held high the Unity Cup in victory, however the team was not going to be fooled and were ready to give it their best and to not let down their previous unbeaten performance.
Once the game got underway, IISNA managed to lead the game and to control it for the whole 4 quarters, keeping Newport almost goalless for the entire match. By the time of the 4th quarter it was clear that the IISNA team was again the strongest and most deserving of being this year's champions. By the time the siren sounded, IISNA had managed to defeat Newport with the following score:
IISNA: 5 3 (33)
Newport: 1 3 (9)
It was no doubt a great day for the IISNA team but it was also a day enjoyed by all those who attended, being able to browse through the stalls and sisplays that were set up around the oval. There was a jumping castle for the kids, a chance to meet Essendon players and to get their autographs, a number of police displays (perhaps the most exciting of which was a chance to beat a police officer dressed in full riot gear, for the kids only of course) as well as an Islamic information stall ran by IISNA and free (halal) pies and hot dogs.
IISNA would like to thank all of those who participated in the day as well as those who represented us on the field for their hard work. A big thanks goes to the Essendon and North Melbourne football clubs for their great support in looking after the teams and for being amazingly helpful in making sure everything went to plan on the day. The AFP as they always have been were very helpful in making sure the event was a success and ran efficiently and securely and our thanks goes out to them and the Victoria Police for their ongoing support.
We look forward to next year's Unity Cup and seeing you all there again as well as many new faces.
The question that remains to be answered though is - who will be able to beat IISNA in 2011?
Salam alaykoum...im modest to say at the least that im overawed and thankful to be called a mastermind coach , my honor was to coach the team who with ALLAHs grace have made me a duel priemership coach and they are three time premiership winners ...the accolades belong to the captain Tarek Kassem , the organising comiitee from IISNA and last but not least the talented bunch of individuals who play for our blessed team on the day. inshallah we do it again in 2011.. having said that those who think we win just like that ..let me tell you the opposition is never an easy pushy over.. (from the coachs box)...salam