Washington, U.S.A. — The Afghan Sports Federation (ASF) held its 15th annual sporting & cultural event “Afghan Cup 2012″ in the Washington DC metro area from July 5th to July 8th.

The events were preceded by a formal dinner reception hosted by ASF for team representatives, event sponsors, Afghan community leaders, Afghanistan’s National Olympic Committee representatives, Afghanistan’s National Football (Soccer) Coach and Afghan Diplomats and athletes. This dinner reception outlined the schedule, rules and agenda for all participants in the 4 day event.

Soccer teams from all over the United States and Canada played in matches spread out over four days. Many Afghan players from Europe and Afghanistan participated in the event despite the grueling heat experienced in the region.

Basketball teams also participated in the tournament, which has become the premier destination for Afghan athletes across the world.

A tournament for Table Tennis was also organized this year as per the request of players with experience on the Afghanistan national team so that the top 2 players could be selected to join Afghanistan’s National Squad.

The presence of Afghanistan’s National Football (Soccer) Head Coach Mr. Yusuf Kargar encouraged the participation of Afghan athletes in an attempt to scout out new talent to add to the Afghan National Squad, as per prior agreement with ASF and Afghanistan’s National Football Association.

Afghanistan’s National Basketball General Secretary Mr. Ghous Nikbeen similarly participated in the event in order to add to the already successful number of US basketball players who represented Afghanistan in its first Gold Medal win in 2010 in Dhaka. The President of Afghanistan’s Tennis Association Mr. Azim Niazi was also in the delegation to scout athletes from all over the US in the coming days.

Afghanistan’s Red Crescent Society, one of the event sponsors, was given an opportunity to introduce themselves to the Afghan-American community through its presence in these events. Their President Mrs. Fatima Gailani’s video message was broadcast to the thousands in attendance. The Bayat Foundation, which has been one of ASF sponsor for years, was represented by its Executive Director, Mrs. Fatema Bayat, who also presented trophies to the winners while emphasizing women’s participation in ASF events, which continues to be a long-standing policy of the organization.

ASF also held a soccer clinic for young players and announced the creation of a new ASF Youth Soccer Academy to be run by its team of expert coaches: Jawed Sanie, Jamil Faryadi and Abdullah Monawer. This year ASF supporters worldwide benefited greatly from new innovative score reporting and immediate updating of results on the ASF website (www.afghansportsfederation.com) and the ASF Official Facebook page (www.facebook.com/afghansportsfederation), which was managed by ASF Creative Director Faiz Behgoman and Social Media Coordinator Aimal Ahmadzai.

The championship games were played on July 8th at the Discovery Center Soccerplex in Germantown, Maryland. The soccer finale was played between Afghan Premier of California & defending champion Brishna of New York. Brishna was able to win the competitive match with a score of 1-0 and were thus crowned Afghan Cup 2012′s soccer champions.

The basketball championship game was played between Virginia’s “The City” & New York’s “Afghan 5″. The City of Virginia successfully defended their title and won the championship game by a score of 43-40 in order to become Afghan Cup 2012′s basketball champions.

The champion of Table Tennis was Mustafa Nawbi of Virginia who beat Basir Subati of Afghanistan.

Image Courtesy of   Afghan Sports Federation (Official ASF)

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AIDS Services Foundation Orange County (ASF) announced that the Disneyland Resort will once again serve as the venue for AIDS Walk Orange County. The 26th annual walk takes place Sunday, May 6.

Five thousand supporters are expected to attend and enjoy the magical route through Disneyland park, Disney California Adventure park and Downtown Disney. The walk is scheduled to begin at 7:00 a.m. ”ASF is thrilled and humbled to be returning to the Disneyland Resort for AIDS Walk 2012. We received such amazing feedback about the location from last year’s walkers and volunteers.

And the experience for our clients in attendance was emotionally overwhelming,” said Philip Yaeger, executive director of ASF. “One of our clients remarked, while standing among a crowd of thousands on Main Street, USA, at Disneyland, that he now knew he was not alone in his fight against AIDS.”

The Disneyland Resort, which agreed to host the 25th AIDS Walk last year, has been a corporate sponsor of the event since 2000. That support has included Disney VoluntEARS who have participated as walkers and provided volunteer assistance. ”We raised nearly 25 percent more for AIDS Walk in 2011 because the event was held at the Disneyland Resort,” commented Chris Bragg, event organizer and ASF director of events, “We’re certain that the experience for all of our walkers will be even better this year!”

First held in 1987 at Mason Park in Irvine, the walk has taken place in various locations and raised over$14 million in donations to help provide services for people affected by HIV/AIDS in Orange County.  ASF organizes the event with proceeds shared among several nonprofit agencies that provide services to people living in Orange County that are impacted by the disease.

Among the agencies expected to benefit from the 2012 event are: AEGiS; The Center Orange County; Laguna Beach Community Clinic; Mercy House; Orange County Cornerstone Outreach; Public Law Center; Shanti Orange County; Straight Talk Clinic, Inc.; and AIDS Services Foundation Orange County.

ASF is a nonprofit organization founded in 1985.  Annually, the agency assists more than 1,600 men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS. Among the services ASF provides are food, transportation, housing, emergency financial assistance, mental health counseling, HIV testing, and HIV prevention and education programs.  To learn more about ASF go to www.ocasf.org.  For more information about AIDS Walk visit www.aidswalkorangecounty.org.

Image Courtesy of  http://www.flickr.com/photos/asterix611/

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