The Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America (ESFNA)

Ato Yohannes Terfa, ESFNA's long time supporter, tragically murdered.--9/26/2006

webmaster@ectv.org — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 15:01:07 -0400

Ato Yohannes Terfa, ESFNA's long time supporter, tragically murdered.--9/26/2006

It is with great shock and sadness that the Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America’s Board of Directors, Executive Committee Members, players and supporters have learned the death of Ato Yohannes Terfa, one of ESFNA’s founders and Atlanta team’s founder and long time supporter. Ato Yohannes, a well-known Ethiopian businessman in the city of Atlanta, was shot and killed by unknown gunmen. This tragic loss has deeply saddened the Ethiopian community in Atlanta. The Ethiopian Soccer club in Atlanta was devastated by Ato Yohannes’ premature death, as he was their ardent supporter both as an advisor and material contributor. Ato Endale Tufer, representative of the Ethiopian Soccer club in Atlanta, expressed his deepest sorrow on behalf of his team and said Yohannes’ memory will forever live in the hearts of all the players and supporters he touched in their team.
We at ESFNA, would like to extend our heart felt condolences to Ato Yohannes’ family and friends. May God rest his soul!

If you would like to attend Ato Yohannes’ memorial and funeral services, please refer to the information below.

Service at 10:00 AM
A.F. Turner and sons Funeral Home.
Adress 2773 North Deacator Rd.
Further Information - 404 292 1551
10:00 AM

Funeral Ceremony
Floral Hills Memory Gardens
3000 Lawrenceville Highway
Tucker, Georgia 30084
Further Information 770 939 3424

ESFNA grieves the death of Tamrat Tafesse

webmaster@ectv.org — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 15:05:48 -0400

ESFNA grieves the death of Tamrat Tafesse, one of its long time friends and supporters. Tamrat is survived by his wife and three children.
May God rest his soul and console his loved ones.

ESFNA's EC successfully completed visits to Chicago and Dallas based on their bid to host ESFNA 2007.

webmaster@ectv.org — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 14:56:43 -0400

ESFNA's EC successfully completed visits to Chicago and Dallas based on their bid to host ESFNA 2007. ESFNA would like to thank the strong Ethiopian communities in both these wonderful cities for their hospitality and their interest to host ESFNA players and guests in 2007.
The city of Chicago's proposal included the famed Soldier's Field stadium for the tournament site, and great hotel accommodations for ESFNA players and guests.

The city of Dallas' proposal included the modern and marvelous Texas Stadium as a tournament site, and also included great hotel accommodations for ESFNA players and guests.

ESFNA would like to wish both these cities good luck in their quest to bring the ever growing ESFNA tournament to their respective cities. ESFNA's EC will soon make their decision and make the announcement after the board of Directors approve the host city.

Where ever the tournament maybe held, ESFNA promises the best show ever as we are gearing to celebrate the eve of the Ethiopian millennium during our tournament in 2007.

Stay tuned and we will make our announcement soon.

ESFNA, EC

Update and Summary for Saturday ESFNA, LA July 8, 2006 07/08/2006

webmaster@ectv.org — Sat, 30 Sep 2006 15:49:12 -0400

The final day started out with the third place game in the second division between Toronto and San Diego. San Diego beat Toronto 4-3 to take the third place spot. In the first division 3rd place game, St. Michael beat Unity 4-2 and established once more that they will be contending for championships for years to come.

ESFNA would like to thank all those involved in making the kids' soccer event happen in LA. Teams from LA Stars, Philadelphia and San Jose participated and fielded talented athletes. The youth games ended with LA Stars taking the 1st place, Philly 2nd place and San Jose 3rd place. We at ESFNA would like to commend the Philly team and Ethiopian community for organizing a great children's team and making the long trip two years in a row. We want kids to to participate more in ESFNA events, and we would like to recognize the volunteer coaches that took their time to coach these three teams.
# Alemayehu Abebe, Los Angeles
# Vero Partoni, Los Angeles
# Wubishet, Los Angeles

# Teddy Tamiru, Philly
# Said Ali, Philly

# Fikru HaileSelassie, San Jose

Division II’s final featured Baro vs San Jose. Baro came prepared to win the championship and did it in style and finesse. Baro clenched the Division II's championship with a 3-0 victory over San Jose. Congratulations Baro on a victory well deserved. Congratulations is also in order to San Jose for moving right back to Division I after being relegated to Division II just last year.

Division I's final game pinned two traditionally strong ESFNA teams vying for the championship trophy. When all was said and done, LA Stars prevailed over DC stars and kept the trophy home. LA Stars played with great flare and zeal throughout the tournament. The team's great speed and energy simply overwhelmed all competition. In addition to the Division one trophy, here are other awards LA Stars received:

Mengistu Hussein, Best coach

Tadios, Best Goalie

Yared Girma, Top Scorer

Yared Girma, MVP

ESFNA would like to congratulate Yared Girma on his outstanding performance through out the tournament. Yared is not new to receiving recognitions in the sport he loves.

1999 - All Bay League 2nd Team - Scored three of more Goals in
eleven games.

2001 - Harbor Cup MVP; Ocean League MVP; All-CIF 1st Team

Played Varsity all 4 years at Inglewood High, he is the all-time
leading scorer with 102 goals.

Yared says his favorite player while growing up in Addis was Gebremedhin Haile,
and his favorite player now is Michael Owen. Congratulations Yared!

After the award ceremonies were completed, people rushed over to do some last
minute shopping at the vending area. The vending area was bustling with last
minute shoppers that were searching for souvenirs to take home. Ethiopians
from across the world were saying their goodbyes to one another. See you next
year, was the famous phrase heard around the Coliseum that night.

After the day was completed at the Coliseum, guests flocked over to the Sports
Arena to attend the one-of-a-kind ESFNA closing night. This year's closing
night event was quite memorable! The young and talented Nikki opened the show
to the packed Arena. Teddy Tadesse, Abdukia and Kuku Sebssibe followed
Nikki and entertained the crowd. This led to Tilahun's memorable appearance.
Tilahun could not start his performance because of the prolonged loving and
adoring ovation. Like a fine wine, Tilahun's voice has gotten better with age.
His adoring fans were treated to one a kind performance. Tilhahun is also
promoting his non-profit project in Ethiopia. You can read more about
Tilahun's project by visiting http://www.tilahungessesse.com/mission.htm.

Following Tilahun, Teddy Afro took the stage and rocked the house. As expected,
Teddy's performance was very well received by his adoring fans.

The night's closing act was none other than the queen of Ethiopian music,
Aster Aweke. ESFNA was delighted to have Aster exclusively perform for ESFNA
in the entire week. We at ESFNA appreciate the long standing relationship
Aster has developed with our organization. Queen Aster took the stage and
entertained the crowd as only she can.

The closing night lineup ESFNA was managed to put together was truly
historic. We were delighted to have assembled such an array of Ethiopian
artists on one stage on one night. Our members and players deserve it,
and we will do our level best to put on shows that are worthy of our
guests year after year.

ESFNA

webmaster@ectv.org — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 09:29:58 -0400

Teams

The Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America (ESFNA)

webmaster@ectv.org — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 09:26:40 -0400

ESFNA

The Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America (ESFNA) is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization founded in 1984 to promote amateur soccer and cultural events within the Ethiopian community in the North America. Its goals include providing positive role models for the youth, promoting goodwill between the Ethiopian communities in North America and creating a bridge where people from Ethiopia and North America can interact in a mutually beneficial manner. In addition to the sports event, the Federation also promotes cultural activities to provide opportunities for Americans to learn more about Ethiopia’s culture and history.

Visionary Ethiopians residing in the city of Houston conceived the Ethiopian Sports Federation in North America during the early days of the 1980s. The first tournament was held in the city of Houston with the participation of four clubs (Washington DC, Dallas, Houston, and Atlanta) on April 20, 1984. A year later, the tournament was held in Washington D.C. with more clubs added to the family of ESFNA, and it was at this time elected officers assumed the responsibility of managing the Federation under a new format. A lot has changed since that time, perhaps the most significant of all was the adoption of operating by-laws, rules and regulation of the games and the establishment of a tax-exempt status.

Due to an increasing number of new teams that want to join ESFNA, an extensive study is underway to identify ways to accommodate new members since time and logistic considerations have placed constraints on the number of games that can be played during the one-week annual soccer tournament. At some point, there were teams from England and Sweden who were participating actively in ESFNA.

Over the past several years, ESFNA has become a cultural and sports center for Ethiopians in North America. Every year more than twenty thousand Ethiopians and American friends spend one week in the host city by taking part in the sports and cultural events organized for their enjoyment. In the process, they spend millions of dollars every year in the host city, making a major contribution to the local economy. In the very near future, ESFNA is planning to bring more and a variety of programs to its supporters by partnering with major corporations and non-profit organizations.

ESFNA, by virtue of its status is non-political and non-religious. We have adhered to this position all along because we are legally expected to take such a stance. Outside of the sports events, our contribution has been in connecting lost friends and relatives, networking and providing a medium for people to appreciate Ethiopian culture and heritage and taking initiatives to be part of development and humanitarian efforts in Ethiopia. In addition, it should be clear to all that ESFNA creates the environment for all to participate in business, religious and other activities outside of our events.