Saturday 26th August 2017
On Saturday 26th August 2017 we all gathered at Sir Harry's School in Peterborough for the first day of the MAMT 2017 tournament. Within the group of over 200 participants we had 53 Al Najiyaat members all kitted out looking extremely stylish in our new Al Najiyaat tops all ready for the games.
FOOTBALL
This was the first year that we entered THREE teams in the children's category. A new category for Under 9 girls was introduced in the MAMT 2017 fixtures and we are soooo proud that we took 2 under 9 girls teams. Thanks to the hard work of Mussarat Bandali and Sukaina Tejani Hemraj who have been working hard all year with these girls. The Two under 9 teams, the Birmingham Shooting stars and Birmingham 313 both played extremely well in their games. I think most of their mums lost their voices cheering their daughters on in the games. The Birmingham Shooting stars made it to the finals and after a well fought out game came runners up in the under 9 category. All the girls who participated were awarded medals and we hope that this is the beginning of their journey through MAMT and they will be coming every year and become regulars like us .
12 and Under Birmingham Diamonds
These girls formed their team only recently and did not have any coaching practice. They are a group of friends playing together and they did very well in their games. They played hard and even after a few knocks gave it their all. They were knocked out in the group stage against some very stiff competition.
21+ Birmingham Eagles and Birmingham Falcons
Both teams played really well and the Falcons narrowly missed a place in the semi-finals.
35+ Unity Team
WELL DONE to Azmina Elias Celtic team that beat the Lady Bugs in the 35+ unity games.
BADMINTON SINGLES
This year a new format was introduced to badminton. It took us a long time to work out how things worked but we got there and it saw a lot of the Brummie ladies face some very strong competition. Well done to Shakila Meghjee for WINNING the Championship trophy. Shakila aunty was originally entered in the 50 plus category but as there was not a Lot of players in that category was moved to the 16+ and she really showed us how it's done.
SWIMMING
We had one participant for swimming. Fatema Rajbhai, WELL DONE for coming runner up in the 13-15 swimming category.
SUNDAY 27th August 2017
NETBALL Under 12
This is the first-time Birmingham entered an under 12 team for Netball. Well done to all the girls who played soooo hard with all of us CHEERING from the side-lines. They WON one game, drew 2 and lost 1, and narrowly missed a place in the Semi-finals. 21+
Combining with Leicester, Manchester and Essex we managed to make 3 21+ netball teams. Birmingham A, Birmingham B and a Midlands team. Birmingham A were knocked out in the semi-finals.
BADMINTON DOUBLES
WELL DONE to Azmina Elias and Sayyeda Tejani for WINNING the 16+ Championship Doubles Trophy. We all had our hearts in our mouths when we were watching the girls but you did us proud after a very tough game.
This year also saw a 50 + category introduced to the badminton. WELL DONE to Shakila Meghjee and Mumtaz Esmail for acing that group and WINNING the 50+ Badminton Doubles Trophy.
TABLE TENNIS DOUBLES
Nikat Panjwani and Mumtaz Esmail did it again and WON the 21+ doubles Table tennis trophy. I watched the final and they played amazing to remain the reigning champions. I would personally like to congratulate all of you participants for your achievements in this spectacular two days of intense sports. We experienced great hospitality and saw some of the hottest days in England so far. I think the sun also wanted to shine for us!! These days have definitely increased our bonds within the Birmingham team, we saw aunties asking if the girls were ok and girls screaming their lungs out supporting the aunties in their games. We laughed together, we ate together, we moaned together and more importantly we grew together and we left the tournament closer FRIENDS.
I am so pleased that it is on this high note that my two-year term as head of the club comes to an end. These past two years has seen the club grow from strength to strength and the success of this is down to my extremely dedicated team. These hard-working group of VOLUNTEERS spend countless hours organising and ensuring that we have a variety of sporting activities for all ages and that all sports run well. I cannot thank them enough for their support during my term. These ladies are: Fatim Bandali, Sukaina Tejani-Hemraj, Mussarat Bandali, Sukaina Bandali, Fatema Bhanji, Zinnath Moti, Sabera Mohamed, Shakila Meghjee, Nikat Panjwani, Malika Jaffer and Natasha Rajpar, you guys kept me sane and I have no words to express how much your friendship, support and encouraging words meant to me and I hope you will continue to keep the club growing.
I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologise for any short comings on my part, if I may have done or said anything that may have caused upset to anyone during my term of office. I would hasten to assure you that it would have been purely unintentional and I seek it in the goodness of your hearts to forgive me for all my shortcomings. I would like to thank the Jamaat's Executive Committee and especially our Ladies Committee for their amazing support throughout my term and lastly and by no means least I would like to thank you all for all your encouraging support and kind words. Some of you became advisers with your invaluable pieces of advice on how we can improve and I hope you continue to support the club and we can together bring women sports from strength to strength.
I wish the new incoming leadership all the best of luck and assure them of my fullest support and cooperation.
Yours sincerely
Fatema Damji
