MIIST 2011 Highlights

The Masroor International Sports Tournament (MIST) was held this year on April 2nd and 3rd in Hatboro Pennsylvania and yet again it proved there is no other sporting event like this in the United States where not only national but International teams compete with each other. Like past years soccer and basketball were the two sports played. There were 22 basketball teams and 12 soccer teams which participated. Teams came from all over the United States and also from Belgium, Canada, Germany and United Kingdom. What made this tournament different from last year was not only the location of the tournament but also the amount of teams that participated. At the end three teams surpassed all in their appropriate sports and divisions. The championship for soccer was won by Germany who recaptured their crown from two years ago and basketball consisted of two championships. One for the Nasir bracket won by Canada and another for the Tahir bracket won by East Region team which was a combination of Philadelphia and Willingboro.

The sites for both soccer and basketball were about a half hour north of Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Accommodations for the event were held in Nasr mosque, Willingboro, New Jersey. Close to three hundred people attended the event between the two sites. The tournament began Saturday morning with an opening ceremony where Sadr Khuddamul Ahmaddiyya addressed the players with some positive advise regarding sports. This tournament was unique in many ways from the location of the tournament, the amount of soccer and basketball teams participating, the number of international players which was the most we've had, and above all the two Jamaats hosting the tournament were in the region where Ameer Sahib US resides. It was amazing to have him sit with some of the players both before and during the tournament to give the players some perspective on life.

The competition this year for both soccer and basketball was the best that there has been in the past few years. In soccer, International teams from Germany, Belgium, U.K showed why soccer is number one is Europe however the North American teams from Chicago/Miami and Canada showed that the sport isn't very far behind from Europe in competing. At the end two European teams played for the Championship where Germany topped the United Kingdom. Unlike previous years there were no MKA USA basketball teams. The best of the best were divided amongst teams from all over the United States. This made for very good and close competition. Although the Canadian team won in the Nasir bracket, it wasn't without a great fight from teams like Head Quarters, Maryland, New York, Pacific Northwest and North Jersey. The Tahir bracket consisted of local teams such as Northeast, Houston, Chicago, and East Region, Laurel, Miami and many more. The East Region team at the end proved to be the best in this division beating a banged up Northeast team.

Like past years, this year's MIST tournament also proved to be successful with a great venue, excellent organization team, more teams being added, competition getting better, the bond of brotherhood also getting stronger.