Second Annual Skopje Squirrel!
by Sarah Goldberg
This year's Skopje Squirrel was a
true testament to the competitive spirit of the
greater Skopje region. Over thirty teams from
around Skopje came out on May 21st to
participate in either basketball or football
(soccer), with champions being crowned in
both events. There was also a threepoint competition and
"exhibition"
style
games for some youth teams in football. This
year's Skopje Squirrel was co-sponsored by
the Roma organization Sumnal (Skopje) and
NOVA High School (Skopje).
This
year's competition was coordinated by Peace
Corps volunteers as well as by NOVA High
School's Bojan Srbinovski, though many of
you may know him by his moniker, The Greatest Boy in the World.
The event was a one day competition that kicked off at noon. The basketball competition offered
fierce competition, including exceptional play from our future champions in the final game. Almost
all of the losing teams watched the games, in a great show of sports spirit and city pride. On the
football field, Ashley Dowd oversaw an impressively reffed competition, with Sumnal's A Team
taking the crown from last year's runner up, Karposh IV (both a suburb of Skopje and a state of
mind). This year's trophies were donated by NOVA High School, and were proudly held aloft by the
victorious teams. And although the world was slated to end that afternoon at six, the fifteen
Peace Corps Volunteers who came and helped support the event were able to leave NOVA High
School intact.
This year's tournament, like last year's, was a charity clothing drive. Each participant donated
articles of clothing that were then given to
families in Topana, Skopje. This year also
included a fifty denari entrance fee per
participant. This money went to a project
between
Sumnal
and
NOVA High
School's Volunteer
Club,
to
cover
transportation costs for elementary school
aged children from Sumnal so that they can
meet up with their NOVA High School
mentors and go to places in Skopje like the
city park, the zoo, and the children's theatre.
Great job to everyone involved! Here's
looking forward to next year's event being
even better!
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