Ethiopians Gathered in D.C. for a Week of
Sports & Culture
By Sabrina Yohannes
August, 1996
As officials of the Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America (ESFNA) stood at the edge of the Largo High School soccer field to award the winners of the Federations’s 13th annual soccer tournament, the crowd that gathered drew closer, leaving just a narrow opening through which award recipients would pass. When the winners of the “B” division was announced, 24-year old Benyam Abbay of Richmond, England jogged to the officials’ table on behalf of the London team. When Benyam rejoined his team, a gleaming trophy in his hands, he was pulled, hugged and photographed a dozen times.
Benyam was excited about winning his division’s title match against the Dallas Ethiopia team. But what overwhelmed him was the number of Ethiopians that had gathered for the event in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, near D.C. “There are occasions in London that draw large groups of Ethiopians. But nothing like this!” he said, looking around the field that had now been turned into an impromptu celebrating grounds for the winners of the “A” division, the Washington, D.C., Ethio Stars.
The tournament, which is held annually over the July 4th weekend, is divided into two divisions. The “A” division, where main championship battle is fought, is made up of the top 16 teams from last year’s competition. All other teams fall into the “B” division. In all, 26 teams competed this year22 from cities in the U.S., two from Canada, one from London and one team with players from Amsterdam, Holland and Stockholm, Sweden. The top two from the “B” divisionLondon and Dallas Ethiopiawill now advance to the “A” division, while the last two teams in the “A” will drop to the “B” division.
The championship game between D.C. Starswho hosted this year’s tournamentand Atlanta had been decided in a tight match that began with a clear lead by Atlanta and was not won until going into overtime. Anxious D.C. Stars fans and other soccer enthusiasts stood along the edges of the soccer field, cheering every move. D.C. Stars’ Mulugeta Kebede, who is also a member of the Ethiopian national soccer team in Addis Abeba and had been invited to the tournament, scored the final goal that settled the match, 4-3.
“I think it is one of the best tournaments we have ever had,” said Solomon Abdella of Maryland, who is a member of the Federation’s executive committee and one of the coordinators of this year’s tournament. About 10,000 people had attended a day of special celebrations on July 4th and the attendance on the five days before the last day added up to about 20,000, according to Solomon. Dagnachew Bezabeh, ESFNA’s public relations officer, placed attendance of the last day at about 10,000.
Soccer was not the only attraction on the field. On July 4th, the Nile Cultural Ensemble performed an elaborate variety show. During the whole week, vendors surrounding the soccer field sold soft drinks, tibs, kitfo, posters, CDs of classic Ethiopian songs and new releases, and T-shirts depicting various symbols and slogans. “I am out of Ethiopia, but Ethiopia is not out of me,” declared one T-shirt. Some enterprising vendors imported jewelry and leather jackets made in Ethiopia. Churches and nonprofit groups had also set up booths. Boston resident Bob Jango, an American who has visited Ethiopia, was impressed. “It’s like taking a cheap ticket to Addis!” he remarked.
Animated reunions among friends and relatives occurred every day. When Yonas Birru of Maryland saw someone who looked like his old friend Daniel standing near the soccer field, he stared in disbelief. Daniel, a member of the EPRP during the late 1970s, had been presumed dead almost twenty years ago when he disappeared after his close friends were killed during the Derg’s “Red Terror” campaign. “I’m not going to try to convince you that I am alive,” were Daniel’s first words to Yonas.
After a week of reunions, sports, culture and commerce, the event ended with a celebration at the Washington Sheraton on Saturday night. Next year’s event will be held in Los Angeles.
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Sabrina Yohannes is a recent graduate of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and lives in New York.
E-mail: [email protected]