Post by schlager7 on Aug 18, 2007 7:40:24 GMT -6
Fencing 'disease' spreads in Iraq
USA TODAY
Original Article
Reta Hagoub, right, parries a thrust by Ashkheen Serkes, during practice before the Iraqi Fencing Federation's club tournament. Both women will represent Iraq at the 2007 Asian Fencing Championships.
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By Ali A. Nabhan, USA TODAY
BAGHDAD — Basim Mohammed, a member of the Iraqi national fencing team, says his family worries about him going to practice, but he can't stop. "I have a disease flowing in my blood called fencing," says the 34-year-old father of two. He also is a member of the Iraqi army fencing team.
Athletes in Iraq, especially members of national teams, brave dangers trying to train and compete. Two weeks ago, fencing champion and former army coach Raheem Sa'ed was shot to death. His son, also a fencer, was murdered, too.
Mohammed says that the last time he saw Sa'ed, the former champion told him he believed his life was in danger.
Mohammed has been fencing for 20 years and is preparing for his last tournament, the 2007 Asian Fencing Championships, to be held Aug. 22-28 in China. When it's over, he hopes to coach the army team and "contribute to the sport I love," he says.
Fencing has grown in popularity here, says Ziad Hassan, secretary of the Iraqi Fencing Federation. There were 20 clubs in Iraq before the 2003 U.S. invasion; now there are 42, Hassan says. Youth participation, which had dropped to zero in the two years before the war, is picking up.
At the same time, though, the number of coaches in Iraq has fallen, to 16 from 25 before the war. "Because of the security situation, many of them left the country," Hassan says.
Iraqi athletes, coaches and sports officials have been targets of assassinations and kidnappings during the past two years.
The national tennis coach and two of his players were gunned down in 2006. A national wrestling champion was murdered. Fifteen members of the national tae kwon do team were abducted and held for ransom in May 2006 while returning from a tournament in Jordan.
Fencers and their coaches are forced to take precautions because "we know that we are targeted by the terrorists who don't want Iraq to live as a civilized, developed country," Mohammed says.
He alternates cars to make it harder for militants to spot him. He wears street clothes to the practice hall, and he leaves his fencing equipment at the club so he won't run the risk of it being discovered at a checkpoint.
"We don't get enough practice in Baghdad because of the security situation," Mohammed says. "But we benefit from the practice camps outside Iraq, where we spend a longer time practicing and meet foreign coaches."
Before the 2005 West Asian Games in Qatar, the team had a three-month practice camp in Turkey, Mohammed says.
Despite the sport's increasing popularity, the number of women competing has fallen, Hassan says. At the national level, the number of female competitors has fallen to four from 10. Only two practice regularly.
Reta Hagoub, 23, a fencer who works as a computer scientist, says she used to practice five days a week and now manages only three practices a week.
"The families are afraid for their girls," Hagoub says. "Mine is, too, but they encourage me. They are proud of what I am achieving on the national team. And they feel better when I travel outside Iraq to a championship or a practice camp because they know that it's safe there."
USA TODAY
Original Article
Reta Hagoub, right, parries a thrust by Ashkheen Serkes, during practice before the Iraqi Fencing Federation's club tournament. Both women will represent Iraq at the 2007 Asian Fencing Championships.
============================================
By Ali A. Nabhan, USA TODAY
BAGHDAD — Basim Mohammed, a member of the Iraqi national fencing team, says his family worries about him going to practice, but he can't stop. "I have a disease flowing in my blood called fencing," says the 34-year-old father of two. He also is a member of the Iraqi army fencing team.
Athletes in Iraq, especially members of national teams, brave dangers trying to train and compete. Two weeks ago, fencing champion and former army coach Raheem Sa'ed was shot to death. His son, also a fencer, was murdered, too.
Mohammed says that the last time he saw Sa'ed, the former champion told him he believed his life was in danger.
Mohammed has been fencing for 20 years and is preparing for his last tournament, the 2007 Asian Fencing Championships, to be held Aug. 22-28 in China. When it's over, he hopes to coach the army team and "contribute to the sport I love," he says.
Fencing has grown in popularity here, says Ziad Hassan, secretary of the Iraqi Fencing Federation. There were 20 clubs in Iraq before the 2003 U.S. invasion; now there are 42, Hassan says. Youth participation, which had dropped to zero in the two years before the war, is picking up.
At the same time, though, the number of coaches in Iraq has fallen, to 16 from 25 before the war. "Because of the security situation, many of them left the country," Hassan says.
Iraqi athletes, coaches and sports officials have been targets of assassinations and kidnappings during the past two years.
The national tennis coach and two of his players were gunned down in 2006. A national wrestling champion was murdered. Fifteen members of the national tae kwon do team were abducted and held for ransom in May 2006 while returning from a tournament in Jordan.
Fencers and their coaches are forced to take precautions because "we know that we are targeted by the terrorists who don't want Iraq to live as a civilized, developed country," Mohammed says.
He alternates cars to make it harder for militants to spot him. He wears street clothes to the practice hall, and he leaves his fencing equipment at the club so he won't run the risk of it being discovered at a checkpoint.
"We don't get enough practice in Baghdad because of the security situation," Mohammed says. "But we benefit from the practice camps outside Iraq, where we spend a longer time practicing and meet foreign coaches."
Before the 2005 West Asian Games in Qatar, the team had a three-month practice camp in Turkey, Mohammed says.
Despite the sport's increasing popularity, the number of women competing has fallen, Hassan says. At the national level, the number of female competitors has fallen to four from 10. Only two practice regularly.
Reta Hagoub, 23, a fencer who works as a computer scientist, says she used to practice five days a week and now manages only three practices a week.
"The families are afraid for their girls," Hagoub says. "Mine is, too, but they encourage me. They are proud of what I am achieving on the national team. And they feel better when I travel outside Iraq to a championship or a practice camp because they know that it's safe there."