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The Real Trophies of the Atlas Tournament
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The Real Trophies of the Atlas Tournament The Moroccan city of Agadir will host the 14th edition of the Atlas Cup, an annual soccer tournament for Moroccans living abroad, between the 18th and 22nd of June 2008. This tournament has been sponsored by Royal Air Maroc since its inception. Twenty four teams representing expatriates and Moroccans of origins from twenty four different countries will partake in this edition. The USA expatriates will be represented by the Washington Athletic Club (WAC) for the fifth time in a row. WAC earned this privilege after participating in a qualifying tournament held in New Jersey in May during which a total of seven Moroccan teams representing various US states competed. WAC finished first thereby prevailing and winning the honor. Teams partaking in this tournament look forward to it all year with much excitement, enthusiasm, and pride. As an on and off member of the WAC team since the early 90’s and a devoted fan, I have had the distinct opportunity to watch this team grow and develop, and to experience first hand and sense the excitement and pride players, coaches, and fans alike display for the Atlas Cup tournament. Its importance, significance, and impact are greatly underestimated. This is abundantly clear judging by the poor media coverage and attention this tournament gets when it’s held. For some participants, this is an opportunity to visit the homeland without having to worry about the ever increasing high cost of travel. For others, it is simply a matter of pride and honor to be back at home on assignment. For some others, it is an opportunity to meet other expatriates to discuss and compare living conditions abroad, and learn about activities of each community. This is of the utmost importance because not only does it unite Moroccans worldwide but it also gives them a chance to exchange ideas on how to best integrate, deal with identity issues, and unite efforts to serve Morocco better, among other things. It is also a window to look at and learn about cultures of the host countries. Then there are Moroccan descendents who may not have the chance or the excuse to visit the motherland of their ancestors if it weren’t for this tournament. Truly, parts of the world come together at least as seen by the eyes of Moroccan expatriates. There are fans now that are beginning to follow their favorite teams to the tournament at their own expense as it is the case for WAC. What is the main driving force behind all this? Hassan Samrhouni, WAC’s founder and president, put it best when he stated that the common denominator they all have “is the love of Morocco”. The trip is highly emotional and very rewarding. The benefits reaped and the memories created have an everlasting positive impact. I hope more care is shown towards this tournament and that it is further nurtured by increased media exposure and expansion of activities during the tournament, such as inclusion of cultural and more social events.
Jamal Laoudi
PLAY IT AGAIN SAM
Agadir 2004,
Tangier, 2005, Marrakech 2006, Safi
2007, and back to
Agadir 2008
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