Mini Tournament in Sultanieh, Bint Jbeil

The harsh winter weather in Lebanon can be a big problem when it comes to playing football – also for the CCPA Popular Clubs. Rain floods make it almost impossible to use the outdoor football pitches and if you want to rent one of the few covered pitches, you will have to pay around 40 $ for one hour. Very few Popular Clubs can afford this on a weekly basis.
Luckily some of the Popular Clubs have good contacts with owners of the private covered pitches or schools with indoor sports facilities.

 
In the Southern town of Sultanieh, which was badly damaged during the latest war in 2006, the local school Mojammah al-Tahrir has offered the Popular Clubs of the Bint Jbeil region to use its facilities for the CCPA mini tournaments free of charge. The school is supporting CCPA’s efforts in organizing recreational activities for children, who have suffered from their experiences with war, and bringing them together with children from other towns and regions.

The mini tournament on Wednesday, 20th of January, brought 29 children and 4 coaches from Sultanieh, Houla and Sawaneh together for a couple of hours of small football matches and training in the indoor sports facilities of the school. The children came from the entire region and from different villages and even different cazas (counties).

 

 
Hassan, one of the coaches from the Popular Club of Houla, who transported the players in his own car to Sultanieh, was very happy to take part in the mini tournament: “It is great to use football as a link between people. Football is not our goal, but the important thing is to meet!”.  Coach Hassan further said, that it is not only the children who benefit from these meetings and activities: “It is the same for us adults; the coaches and even parents, who also meet people from other towns and get a network of contacts in the area. I now know other coaches, not only from this region, but from the entire country. These coaches are now my friends.”

This mini tournament was the second in the region of Bint Jbeil, and more will come in the future. Hopefully the sun will be able to dry the outdoor football pitches before that…