2013 Basketball Update

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On behalf of ERSFNA, we would like to welcome all basketball players and fans to the beautiful city of San Diego, California.  This  year's tournament will start on July 4th and end on July 6th, 2013.  Prior to the start of the tournament, the basketball committee will conduct a mandatory meeting on July 3rd at 7:30 PM at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel.  All team captains and coaches are required to attend this meeting.

The 27th Annual Eritrean Basketball tournament held in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota was a chance for Eritreans all over the world to gather in one city to root for their favorite athletes.  Minnesota was the generous host and helped make the 2012 tournament a success.  The basketball competition was at an all time high and the Minnesota Go Get It Boys (GGB) for the second time in eight years were champions of the Annual Eritrean Basketball tournament.  Led by Mussie Embaye and Joey Habtemariam, the GGB were undefeated in the preliminary round going 3-0 securing their playoff birth with the top seed.  With five teams left fighting for three playoff spots, Philly Jigna and Minnesota Jeganue secured the 2nd and 3rd seeds.  The 4th seed was battled for in a one game playoff between Minnesota Juice and Team Seattle.  Seattle fought back from a 20 point deficit to claim the final playoff spot. 

The Junior Varsity tournament had a lot of young talent and showcased future potential for upcoming tournaments.   The team from Columbia, Missouri defeated the local team from Minnesota in a best two of three games.  ERSFNA encourages Junior Varsity teams and girls to participate in the future tournaments.  Communities throughout the country are highly encouraged to support the youth basketball movement and the ERSFNA will do its best to support and accommodate participants.  All comments, feedback and recommendations are always welcomed. 

ERSFNA understands that most participants are students and are busy with school work and finals druing the registration process; however, it is important to have every team registered within the time frame of the established deadlines.  On time registration is essential for planning, scheduling, preparation and the success rate of the tournament.  Our goal is to het all the registration process and all related paper work completed two weeks prior to the start of the tournament.  Once this is accomplished successfully, game schedules can be posted ahead of the tournament start giving teams the opportunity to prepare for their opponents adequately.

If you have any basketball related questions please feel free to contact Yonatan Berhane, 651-621-4186 or berhanjo@yahoo.com or Yonathan Woldai at 651-216-1126 or yonathanwoldai@yahoo.com. Thank you and we look forward to see you all in sunny San Diego!