INTERVIEW
Ato Behailu Assefa
President Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America
By Fikre Tolossa
Ethiopian Review, July 2001
Question. Ato Behailu, since when have you been the
president of the Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America and how were you elected to the position?
Answer. My participation with the federation goes back to 1987 as a player and team representative for the San Francisco Walia Sport Club. In addition, I was a player, team representative and head coach for the Los Angeles Ethio Stars from 1992 to 1998. If you add up all the years, I have been with the federation for almost fourteen years. The federation has been part of me, and one of the reasons that I volunteered to serve this organization is for what it has been able to achieve throughout the years for the last eighteen years. During the Toronto semiannual board meeting, I was elected to serve as president from the conclusion of the Toronto 2000 tournament through July 2003.
Q. How do you rate this year’s event compared to previous year’s and what makes the event held in the San Francisco Bay area different from other host cities?
A. There have been few memorable moments in the federation history that were organized in such a way, where the players and guests enjoyed themselves by the level of organization and variety shows displayed at the tournament. For me, the tournaments that were held in Dallas (1989, 1999), Toronto (1992, 2000) and Los Angeles (1997) were outstanding with respect to the stadium event and closing night. However, this year, I can say without equivocation, was the best tournament ever held in the eighteen-year of the federation existence. I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to the city of Hayward, Chabot College, and organizing committee members from the San Francisco Walia and San Jose Anbesa Sport clubs.
Q. What were the challenges and obstacles you faced in organizing such a grand event?
A. Prior to the event here in the San Francisco bay area, the 17th annual tournament held in the city of Toronto, Canada, was completed with joy and high remarks. Knowing these facts, it would take an extra ordinary effort to surpass the success of the Toronto tournament. As you probably knew, the US economy during the middle of 2000 was hot and the cost of hotel accommodation in the Bay Area was astoundingly high compared to previous years. This was one of the challenges we faced in the early days that took more time to make the final decision to host the event in the Bay Area. In the end, we took this as an opportunity to prove that we can overcome the challenge through heavy advertising in the radio and print media to bring guests to the Bay Area. This concept gave birth to new idea to reach out to our communities in the United States. I, along with my colleagues, traveled to Washington DC, Los Angeles, Seattle and Minneapolis to attract more guests and supporters to come to this gathering. I truly believe that the town hall meetings in these major cities in the United States gave us the exposure to define our goal and objectives to the Ethiopian communities and resulted in a successful event of such magnitude.
Q. When you took this position, did you have a set of goals, and have you accomplished the goals thus far?
A. Of course. When I was elected to serve as the new president, at that moment, it didn’t sink to me the magnitude of the responsibility. A few days later, I felt as if a brick hit me, when realizing the task that I embarked will require enormous amount of time, effort and perseverance to be an effective leader of this organization. Then, I became mindful of all the duties and obligations that go with the office of the president of ESFNA. With the help of my colleagues, I put together a short and long-term plan and presented to the board meeting on July 2000. The board gave me a green light to carry out these objectives: to make the federation a viable, entertaining, and animated organization. In the short-term, the focus was
on improving the image of the federation. These were some of the accomplishment made so far:
Building a web site that is reflective of the federation history, past and present and provide information relevant to our supporters, guests and players.
The town-hall meetings that were organized in Washington DC, Los Angeles and Seattle gave the federation the forum to explain the future of this organization. In less than a year, I am seeing the seeds that we (the Executive Board) planted in the mind of our supporters and players bearing fruits at the 18th annual tournament in the San Francisco Bay Area.
This year we have added running to our event schedule. The launching of 5000-meter running have shown us the need for such events. In the coming year, we might add 1500 or 3000 meters to the event. We are encouraging Ethiopians to participate in the upcoming tournament to compete in these events. Early registration forms will be posted in the web site for your convenience.
The federation has opened an office to enhance the communication means between the federation and the public.
For the first time, major university coaches were invited at the event.
A representative from San Jose “Earthquake,” a Major League Soccer Team, was present during our opening ceremony.
In addition to the short term plans, we have a three- to five-year plan that will focus on Sponsorship; ESFNA products; Hiring business manager to handle marketing, sales and new business opportunities for the federation; Establishing relationship with Major League Soccer to give Ethiopian soccer players a professional soccer opportunity in the USA; and To recruit advisory boards to strengthen the federation.
Q. The activities during the Ethiopian Day were praised by a great number of guests who attended the ceremony. What are your future plans to make this gathering as exciting as the one witnessed in Hayward, California?
A. The Ethiopian Day is a day to celebrate our unique culture and heritage. It is also a time to get to know one another and show our rich culture to American political leaders and guests. As you have witnessed, we had special guests of honor Mayor Roberta Cooper of Hayward and U.S. Congressman Mike Honda from California. The link that was created by bringing these officials will help our communities.
In the future, we would continue using the same format used in Hayward, California, to make the Ethiopian Day as exciting, with poem readings, traditional music, dance and athletic events.
Q. From what we have seen during this 18th annual event the number of attendees seems to top from previous years. Can you share with us how much profit was made at this tournament?
A. The 18th annual event in the San Francisco Bay Area was one of the most successful gathering in terms of the number of attendees and income generated. The number of attendees for the week including players and vendors was close to thirty thousand. The income that was generated from stadium entrance fee, closing night and vending surpassed the previous record set at Dallas, Texas. We are currently finishing the financial statement for the 2001 tournament and will be available for the public in our web site: http://www.esfna.org soon.
Q. How do you allocate funds for tournament and does the federation make itself accountable to the public?
A. Every October, the federation’s executive board meets for two-three days in the host city to: visit the host city organizing committee and be briefed on the plan and progress of the preparation of the tournament; visit the stadium, hotel and convention center suitability for use during the tournament; discuss the success and failure of the past events; review financial incomes and expenses; each official presents a budget for the current year event; and final budgeting is prepared for the upcoming tournament. Once the income and expenses are clearly known, then the treasurer prepares the final budget and presents it at the board’s semiannual meeting.
The federation’s financial statements are always available in our web site for the public to view.
Q. Do you have any message that you wish to convey to the Ethiopian communities and members of the federation?
A. On behalf of all of us at ESFNA, I’d like to thank you for coming to the 18th annual tournament in the San Francisco Bay Area from July 1-7, 2001. I would like to express my deepest appreciation for those individuals who have sacrificed their precious time to be with us to witness one of the most well-organized and gratifying events in the history of the federation.
The strength of our federation is the team representatives, players and Ethiopian communities in North American. During the town-hall meetings in Washington DC, Los Angeles and Seattle, the executive board members have reached out to the communities, stressing the importance of working together to achieve meaningful results. In addition, a number of issues were discussed including the federation’s past, present and future challenges. I strongly felt that the meetings were instrumental in providing a bridge between the federation and communities. The goodwill that was created as a result of these town-hall meetings will foster the cooperation between the major players within our communities and the federation.
Once again, all the efforts that have been made so far won’t bear fruit unless all of us are committed to be part of this change in some capacity to make a lasting impact for the generation to come. This year’s success in the San Francisco Bay Area was a testimony to the efforts made by the federation to accomplish its goal in due time. Your positive feedback has fueled the dedication and commitment of those of us in the federation to perform at a higher level in future events.
I appreciate the opportunity afforded me and invite you to thoroughly explore the information contained in our web site www.esfna.org to get in depth knowledge about the federation past and present, including relevant information on the upcoming tournament.
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Dr Fikre Tolossa is Associate Editor of ER.
A news and opinion journal on Ethiopia
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