Shatt Al Arab Sports Club, Basra, Iraq

Ten years ago, Shatt Al Arab sports club in Al Tanoma city in east Basra was an old building.

“Shatt Al Arab sports club was a really unusable building, all the walls and ceilings were in very bad condition, but now everything looks new thanks to the U.S. Army Engineers efforts,” said Lateef Khalf, the sports club administrator.

The Gulf Region Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Iraq, invested $300,000 to reconstruct the four-decade-old facility.

Khalf said the renovated facility provides a place for about 750 members – providing an opportunity for neighborhood residents of different ages to work out and enjoy an array of sports training.

“It’s great to see all these young Iraqis spend part of their time in sport activities and develop their sports abilities through this sports club,” said Khalf. “We hope to make this club training grounds for many Iraqi Olympians in the future.”

James Mills, the Basra Area Office resident engineer who oversaw the project for the Gulf Region South district, said the renovated sports club offers many amenities.

“The rehabilitation work included a new rubberized outdoor surface, new bleachers, new stadium lights, sun shade, new locker rooms, showers and two restrooms,” said Mills.

Mills also said the facility provides the citizens of Basra a modern stadium to host and watch sporting events like football (soccer), basketball, volleyball and Tae Kwon Do, as well as other sports.

The project renovation began in September 2008, and was completed in April.

At the peak of construction, the project renovation provided jobs for about 50 local workers a day.

The Basra Area Office is currently managing an additional 19 projects worth approximately $110 million.

MNF-I
By A. Al Bahrani
Gulf Region South

National police officers and spectators wave flags and cheer during a game a FC Unity soccer game at Shaab Stadium, May 23, in the Rusafa District of eastern Baghdad. Thirty-six soccer games, 32 community games and four combined U.S.-Iraqi forces games will be played during the tournament. FC Unity, a London-based organization, promotes the development of unity through soccer-based programs. Photo by Staff Sgt. James Selesnick

Cheers, music and fun filled the famed Shaab stadium during a two-day soccer tournament held, May 22 and 23, in eastern Baghdad’s Rusafa District.

The tournament symbolizes the success of a month-long effort between FC Unity, a London-based organization, and U.S. and Iraqi officials to provide the people of Iraq a platform for development and education through a series of soccer programs.

As a sense of normalcy continues to fill the Iraqi capital, Paratroopers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Multi-National Division—Baghdad and Iraqi security forces, wanted to demonstrate the improved security is here to stay.

“It is a normality of life that we can all come out here and play, Americans and Iraqis together and also Iraqis of different backgrounds regardless of their religious, ethnic and social backgrounds can come together and play football,” said Yamam Nabeel, chief executive of FC Unity. “If people around the world can see how the U.S. military interacts with the Iraqi people, it shows a different picture to the world that the U.S. Army is here to help the Iraqis build a strong and viable society.”

“We are here to bring smiles to the faces of the young people,” he added. The tournament, which was open to the public, consisted of 32 community games and four games combining American Soldiers and Iraqis security forces.

Prior to the opening ceremony, Paratroopers handed out soccer jerseys and other equipment to many of the children who participated in the event.

“We want to give the Iraqi people its culture back and a big part of that culture is sports, and in Iraq, sports means soccer,” said Lt. Col. Michael Shinners in a television interview via satellite to the United States. Shinners, of Arlington, Va., serves as the deputy commander of the 3rd BCT, 82nd Abn. Div., based out of Fort Bragg, N.C.

For American Paratroopers participating in the event, playing soccer in a combat zone is something they could have never envisioned when they first deployed to Baghdad in late-2008.

“This is a huge step in what we are doing here,” said Spc. John MacMurray, an intelligence specialist assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd BCT, 82nd Abn. Div. “This event has really helped us earn the trust of the Iraqi citizens.”

During halftime, MacMurray took a break from the action and reenlisted in the middle of the field for an additional four years of military service. The Minerva, Ohio native, said the experience of reenlisted in front of so many people is something he will always treasure.

The spirit of the weekend will live on in the minds of all who participated for years to come.

“We had a lot of fun this weekend, and we built great friendships with the American Soldiers,” said one national police officer. “That was the point of this weekend, to have fun and have a great time.”

DVIDS
Story by Sgt. 1st Class Alex Licea