It’s the ball that strikes you. In any kind of sport played here, the ball is round, always round. But this one is oblong, and its bounce isn’t straight. It’s a ball you catch with your hands, not your feet.
Yes, gridiron, or American football as it is more commonly known, is the sport of choice for Egyptian kids. In a normal soccer pitch belonging to the Ministry of Education more than 60 people get trained in American football.
It’s the brainchild of Ahmed El Refaey, who with his friends Adam El Zoghby, Yehya Kheireldin and Ramy Salah set up training sessions four times a week for anyone interested in practicing the sport.
El Refaey used to live in the United States and played the game while he was there. “I’ve always had this idea, he says, “I’d joke with my friends that if I come back to Egypt I would start the EFL [Egyptian Football League].
For now, El Refaey and his friends are beginning to introduce the game to people who have never played it. It began with an email El Refaey sent out two months ago, asking if anyone aged 16-24 was interested in taking up the game. He held a meeting with those who replied, and in the first practice session the following Friday, forty people showed up.
Now, training sessions have an average attendance of 67.
They begin by warming up, sprinting and jogging before any game training begins. Practice typically lasts up to four hours.
“I had a plan in mind. I wanted to start a league, so I went to all the major clubs in Egypt, El Refaey says, “but they’re so scattered, they already have many sports there. I gave up on the clubs and started thinking of franchising, so I’m trying to go to third tier businessmen to see if they want a football team.
El Refaey and his colleagues are looking for sponsorship and investors, as well as coaches.
But can Egyptians grasp such a foreign game?
El Refaey says they do.
“We’re trying to spread the game in the country. These guys are very ready, he says.
One of the attractions of the game is that it’s a sport that one can begin to play at a later age, according to El Refaey, so one doesn’t need seven years of experience under his belt to play for a club.
Another draw, says Kheireldin, is that “it’s the only sport in Egypt that will accept people of bigger sizes. The sizes of the players differ according to the positions they play.
One of the coaches is Canadian Andrew Mikhail, who says that “it’s a very structural game. It offers discipline, [and] we need skinny people, medium sized people and big guys.
Andrew spoke of how the training managed to build the physical fitness of the players up and told of one player who couldn’t finish a mile run when he joined, but within four weeks could do two miles without difficulty.
One of the players on the team is Islam Mohammed Abdel-Raouf.
“I like it because if you work hard, you can make it. There are equal opportunities to make it even if you are 19 and haven’t been playing it for years, he says.
Additionally, Abdel-Raouf praised the amazing team spirit within the group.
Zoghby added: “It’s a big opportunity for kids who haven’t made it in the sports they played. They are athletes already but have left their sports and are looking for a game to play.
