The Council Of European Jamaats

The Organisation

Sports -before and during 

Organisation for the tournament started in Sept 2004. It was decided that all team leaders should contribute towards it. Hence different individuals were allocated different part of the sports. This was lot more challenging than anticipated since for one reason or another the responsibilities were not equally shouldered – some ended up doing more than others. However, the hard work done by the few paid up and all the fixtures ran smoothly and on time. The only thing no one could control was the rain. On the second day in the afternoon netball had to be rescheduled for indoors as the rain made it impossible for it to be played outside. This meant some of the badminton fixtures had to be rushed. As a result a few who had been swimming at a different location missed the finals. Football and table tennis matches were played with very few hiccups.
           

Catering

All the participants arriving on the first day were greeted with a delicious breakfast. All throughout the day the participants were able to have fruit/sandwiches. Lunches on both days were appetising and nutritious. The evening meal also was equally delicious. On the whole food was plentiful and nourishing. A big thank you to the host team for this. A lot of careful planning and hard work must have gone in this.   

 Nigh time

Night time is always a highlight of the tournament for the younger girls and nightmare for the older ladies as the girls want to stay up all night talking and feasting. As a result it becomes a challenging battle between the girls and the team leaders. This year it was the same and a group of girls were reprimanded for being too noisy.

Abiding rules of hijab

The rule for observing hijab is stressed to all those playing and also spectators and helpers. This year also it had to be stressed several times. A few of them insisted baseball caps were same as wearing hijab. Others tied a scarf with a cap. A few penalties may have to be included in the rules so that the teams/individuals are made more responsible for their actions.

Transport to & from sports centre

Transport to and fro was difficult despite there being a few minibuses and also a coach. This area would need to be looked into in future tournaments and individual jamaats would have to consider bringing their own transports for the two days or make arrangements with the host jamaat in advance to provide them with transport, provided they make the finance arrangement with the host jamaat as it could become very costly for the host jamaat.  It was also suggested that this area to be delegated to two people within the organising team so transporting runs smoothly and on time.

Presentation ceremony

This is always a lengthy procedure as so many trophies have to be given out to so many individuals. Those receiving the trophies love it but others do find it too long. This year too the trophy presentation was a lengthy process but worth waiting for, as the excitement on the young participants faces was worth capturing.  The Presentation Ceremony was greatly enjoyed by all with teams cheering each other on their achievements. This year due to the shortage in transport service, the presentation was delayed which then impacted on the presentation ceremony as the buses had to leave by 7.30 p.m. As a result some teams had to leave in the middle of presentation.

The Khawateen Committee would like to extend their sincere thanks to Peterborough Jamaat for hosting the event and a special thanks to their sports organizing team, sister Jamila bai Asaria and her team who worked very hard and looked after the participants during the tournament weekend, which truly reflected the sense of belonging and unity amongst our Jamaats in the UK.

Results

 Table Tennis - Singles   

Table Tennis - Doubles

Badminton - Singles 

Badminton - Doubles

  

Swimming

 Football

Netball