B-ball tournament raises relief funds

Ashley Slovinski

Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: News

"I came for the exercise, and to donate, of course," said sophomore Elham Shekari at the girl's 3-on-3 basketball tournament for Hoops for Humanity Thursday.

"This was our first time doing a basketball tournament as a part of Islam Awareness Week," the girls' tournament coordinator and Loyola University Chicago Muslim Students' Association member Enisa Selimbegovic said. "We always try to include something fun and entertaining, and we haven't seen any other Muslim Student Associations around the area do something like this. We thought it would be fun and hoped it would help to include more non-MSA members."

The event was held as a part of Islam Awareness Week sponsored by LUCMSA to raise money for the Islamic Relief USA's effort to help those still affected by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

"We chose to donate to the Islamic Relief USA because it is a very well known, big charity and trustworthy. We wanted to give money to a charity we know will go to the intended place. And [the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina] is not in the media any more, and a lot of people don't know that people are still recovering from it," Selimbegovic said.

The event was divided into two tournaments: one for girls and one for boys. Six teams competed in the girls' tournament and eight teams in the boys'. Each team was allowed up to five members, which allowed the teams to each have two members to sub in and out of games. Teams registered for $15 and spectators could attend the event by paying $3 at the door or $1 if they reserved tickets in advance. Players and teams from all faiths and nationalities were welcome.

At the girls' tournament, a team from Hillel - which included three Hillel members and one Catholic non-member - played in the competition to help support Islam Awareness Week. The team's name was Kusiot, which means "hot girls" in Hebrew.

"We think [Islam Awareness Week is] really important, and the event sounded fun," Hillel member sophomore Amy Galanter said.

"We wanted to help raise money and student awareness and get to know each other better," non-Hillel member junior Joan Smith said.

There was also a team from the Muslim Student Association at the University of Illinois at Chicago with a player from the Illinois Institute of Technology in the tournament. The team, FisabiAllah, which means "for the sake of Allah" in Arabic, took first place in the girls' competition, followed by the team Supernaturals from LUCMSA. The first and second place teams for the boys' tournament were Short and Spicy and Basketball Friends.

The event also served to increase the audience's perspective on particular aspects of Islamic life.

"Not a lot of people are aware that we do have fun when guys are not around," said Selimbegovic of outsiders' perceptions of Muslim girls who wear the hijab in public as a sign of modesty.

The event raised around $210 total for Islamic Relief USA but mostly allowed students from different faiths to come together and have fun while raising Islamic awareness.

"I hoped there would be more [diversity]. But there was a team from Hillel, and that was awesome. We do a lot of events with them so it was good we could do more," Selimbegovic said.

Selimbegovic hopes that the tournament will become an annual event during future Islamic Awareness Weeks. She hopes that if continued next year, Hoops for Humanity will attract more people from different faiths as well as the strong turnout from LUCMSA it had this year.

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