Category Archives: Sport

(original article published in TriTeam Kosova)

Conception in circa early September of 2014:

As with most of everything, it all started as a sweet joke followed by a jolly laughter ending in a high degree of skepticism. Yet, an ardent determination was brewing. Grossly paraphrased, the conversation and the rest of it went along these lines: “It sucks, Kosova and its athletes cannot compete internationally. No Olympics…no Rio 2016 either. They’re deprived of the right to be athletes outside of Kosova and we can’t be their cheering fans. Darn, that’s really bad & sad. We must do something. Anything. 5 cents is better than nothing. But, please not just empty words but concrete actions! [mind light bulb flashing] …there is this neat Kosovo.2.0’s campaign #KosovoWantsToPlay aiming to be the voice of all Kosovar athletes in their plea to gain recognition, respect, and support from the international sport entities. We can help. Let’s walk the talk. First do a 10K run and then if we’re alive complete a triathlon! Pause. Yeah, right! Ha Ha Ha. Wait… this is serious as there is a “besa” (promise) involved. We’re in to win.”

Mid-Way:

As Kosovo started gaining recognitions into various international sport committees, including the Olympics, #TriTeamKosova made good friends with sore muscles and sweat.

Flash fast-forward to the very late May of 2015:

After last minute preparations, packing and an initial luring of a great friend also named Alban [ #TriTeamKosova temporarily became  #TheDoubleAlbanAndRilindTeam] we drove about 4 hrs from Washington DC to Beltsville National Park in Pennsylvania. Sitting on the grass, we tried to wipe off the sweat and listen attentively to the main organizers of the Black Bear Triathlon, sharing info about the race, the bike and run courses as well as possible challenges by Mother Nature (a of a lightning storm forecast that thankfully did not materialize). Our initial butterflies in the stomach had mutated into full-fledged scary dragoons. A waterfall of doubts poured down into streams of “Are we ready? What If? The swimming… transition…the biking…then the running…we have no clue…we should and could have done this?…” A long and deep breath and a genuine desire, excitement and commitment to finish the race cleared away the clouds of doubt and brought the rays of “yes we can” sun! We’re ready and so going to do this!

The Next Day:

The hundreds of participants from all walks of life got us truly pumped, intimidated and yet very inspired. An army of returning and aspiring triathletes accompanied with family and friends filled the park. A basket of human energy to warm a city. All equally wanting to “dare the bear”: swim in the beautiful lake surrounded by lush greenery and bike and run through picturesque yet challenging hills and fast descends. Age, gender, race, status… turned out to be truly meaningless. With the assigned numbers 10 and 44, respectively, we were placed in the first wave of swimming. Feeling somewhat silly and awkwardly captivated in our wetsuits, before we knew it we had joined the school of human fish and were giving our best to push forward and rush for the bike course. Time, speed, and competitive drive were of importance but we had opted to focus on and enjoy as best as we could the entire journey. We felt dizzy after finishing the 750m swim.

Walking towards the transition area we took our time to get out of the sticky wetsuit, grab a sip of coconut water and start a lengthy love affair with our bikes. We were off in the bike course accompanied by encouraging words from our friend and other sleepy yet energetic folks nearby. The recently rained road pavement, road bumps here and there, along with the sharp hilly ascends and pretty scary descents gave us chills and a tons of sweat and pain and memories filled with fear and bravery.  Not to mention the changing scenic scenery, the evasive sun, threatening clouds and loads of humidity. The 18 miles (approx. 29km) of the bike course was miraculously completed.

Tired but triumphant we jumped into the 3.1 miles (approx. 5km) of the run course through the seducing woods along the Beltzville Reservoir. Before reaching the halfway mark of the course we started thanking our mind and body, all the loving, generous and kind people who orbit our galaxies and warm our hearts. All those who helped us train and support us. All those who believed in us. We left the FINISH line  newborn, with a flashy black bear medal, cheers and oblivious joy and pride. Our final times were 1:58:14.8 and 2:11:47.0, respectively.

We’d like to dedicate this journey to all those existing and aspiring athletes from Kosovo and the rest of the world who use sport to prove that sky is the limit, peace & humanity is the way, and life is precious and must be fully lived.

p.s.: Tempted to do a triathlon? You should definitely give it a TRI! Check out these triathlon beginner’s tips!

Football Helped Me Present a Different Side of Albanians to Sweden

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Sweden is a rather small country in Scandinavia where more than 9 million people reside. When you mention Sweden to the non-Swedes, they usually ask whether polar bears walk around the Swedish cities on a daily basis. However, the matter of fact is that you have greater chances in meeting an Albanian football player in the Swedish League than getting introduced to a polar bear.

Approximately 40 000 Albanians live in Sweden, leading one to at times forget that one is in Sweden since there is an Albanian around every corner. Unfortunately, Albanians in general have a bad reputation in Sweden. On numerous occasions people refer to me as a Swede just because I am not a troublemaker but rather someone who often raises my voice and reminds everyone that being Albanian does not mean that you come from a criminal family. Of course, do not misunderstand me – I love Sweden. I have been living in this country for more than 20 years. My roots, however, are red and black. Fed up by the negative perceptions, I always wanted to help give Albanians a better image. I never knew how to go about this, however, until an idea came upon me in 2010.

It all began in June 2009, when I was 18 and when I got interested in watching football, after seeing the U21 Euro Cup that hosted by Sweden. Emir Bajrami and Labinot Harbuzi were among the players who represented Sweden, leaving me shocked and wondering when Albanians learned to play football. The experience inspired me to follow other events and the Swedish League (Allsvenskan). I was surprised by the number of Albanians who played in the first league and their presence in the National Team. But, when I spoke of this to my friends, only a few had heard of these Albanian talented young people.

Since I was new to the world of football, I had to work hard to learn everything there is to know about this wonderful game. I stayed up late at night in the library, reading about football and memorizing entire career paths of several Albanian football players, sharing the information with people who had negative perceptions of Albanians. “Did you know that Besart Berisha scored the fastest hat-trick ever (6 minutes) in Australia’s A-League?” was one of my favorite phrases. Since I wanted to have an impact on many other people out there with a negative image of Albanians I began a blog a year after the above mentioned events – Albankollen.

Albankollen means “keeping track of the Albanians” in Swedish. I began by writing a few things I knew but the blog gradually grew and I gained followers from around the whole country. My work was even recognized by Kosovo’s head coach, Albert Bunjaki himself! The former Örebro SK and Kalmar FF assistant coach was impressed by me and called me to help him with the team when Kosovo played its first official friendly game.

Kosovo welcomed Haiti to the field as its first contenders when the home team announced the former Swedish NT assistant coach Tord Grip as Kosovo’s assistant coach. This caught media’s attention even more. However, he was not the only familiar face in the Swedish newspapers.

Kosovo’s NT was led by Anel Rashkaj, a former Halmstads BK player who currently plays in the Norwegian Sandnes Ulf. Lined up alongside him were Ardian Gashi and Loret Sadiku, both playing for Helsigborgs IF at the time. Another Swedish player present was the striker Shpetim Hasani, a player of Örebro SK. The game against Haiti ended in a draw (0-0) and several of the Scandinavian teams welcomed back their players during the spring of 2014.

This was a great event and it helped me a lot in my mission of introducing several players and young talents to Sweden. Apart from the ones I mentioned above, the current Malmö FF player Agon Mehmeti and his former teammate Dardan Rexhepi are both Albanian. In addition, Etrit Berisha, the first goalkeeper of Albania’s National Team, managed to make his way to the Swedish All Start Team last season but left the country to play for Kalmar FF in Lazio shortly before the season ended with Besnik Rustemaj, Liridon Leci and Alban Dragusha accompanying him. Besides these, Valdet Rama played in Örebro SK a few years ago together with Ilir Berisha, Kushtrim Lushtaku and Shpetim Hasani while the 22-year-old Dardan Mustafa in Gefle scored his debut goal in the Swedish League this year. However, he was not the only one to do so. Even Elfsborg’s youngster Arber Zeneli, born in 1995, accomplished the same this season.

The number of Albanians playing football in Sweden is even greater, of course. They helped me achieve my goal of presenting a different image of Albanians to Sweden in these past years. I recently overheard two people on the bus talking about my blog. One of them commented on the number of talented people around the world while the other responded that he has heard about them through my blog – Albankollen. Their conversation made me walk out of the bus with a huge smile on my face my heart full of joy. This inspired me to make a change – I shut down Albankollen last month and began a new era – welcome to the Albanian Eagle Football!

Kosovo Paving the Way in the World of Basketball

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The sound of balls bouncing on Kosovo’s concrete grounds resounds ever more loudly as Kosovo paves its way in the world of basketball. Everything began in 2008, shortly after Kosovo’s independence day. Kosovo had barely swept away the confetti from Prishtina’s streets after celebrating the Independence Day when FIBA’s (International Basketball Federation) delegation visited the country. The topic was Kosovo’s chances of becoming a FIBA member. However, despite impressing the delegation, Kosovo’s application was put on hold.

KB Prishtina

Nevertheless, this was not the end of the story. The Balkan International Basketball League was introduced that same year and the hosting country – Kosovo, made its debut last season (2013/2014) with two of its teams participating in the tournament. The teams came from Pristina and from Peja. Pristina did exceptionally well. It played against and unfortunately failed to beat Hapoel Gilboa Galil as one of the final four teams left to compete. Since the competition was extremely difficult, Pristina lost once again in its game against the Bulgarian Balkan Botevgrad while competing for the third place. However, the fighting spirit and positive energy of the team were visible throughout the tournament.

Friday the 13th 2015, seven years after sending in the application, Kosovo were granted a full membership to FIBA. FIBA announced the news on their official website. This in turn, pushed Kosovo another step in the right direction since it meant that Kosovo will finally be able to participate in bigger tournaments.

Kosovo justified the trust but in them. KB Sigal Pristina made history as it won against BC Rilski Sportist 165-147 and was crowned as the Balkan League Champion. Since the team from Peja played extremely well, a curios turn of events occurred. Namely, Pristina almost faced Peja in the final match. However, Rilski, the team that eliminated Peja in the semi-finals and ended up losing to Pristina, avoided this. Moreover, Prishtina’s Dardan Berisha was voted as the Most Valuable Player and Balkan League’s Player of the year. Berisha recently left Poland’s national team to join Kosovo. Pristina’s historical win was celebrated all over the country and when the heroes returned about thousands of people had gathered in Pristina to welcome them home.

Kosovo has, thus, shown FIBA that they made the right decision by granting them membership. The next big challenge is the U16 Euro Championship when the U16 teams will introduce themselves and where U16 is lined up against Andorra, Malta and San Marino in the first round. The tournament is being hosted in San Marino from July 6th onwards. That same week, the U20 team will play against Portugal, Luxembourg, Montenegro and Georgia in the Eurobasket U20 preliminary round.

Mapping the Albanian National Football Team

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The Albanian National Football team will play against Armenia tonight for the UEFA European Football Championship 2016. Coach Gianni De Biasi called 28 players for the preparations for the game. Most of the players are members of the Albanian Diaspora. Thirteen of them have their family roots in Albania, fourteen in Kosovo, and one in Macedonia. Four of the players are born in Switzerland, one in Germany and another in Norway.

The following maps shed some light on these statistics, and are quite telling in terms for the role of Diaspora in yet another field of life for the nation. Good luck Team Albania. We are rooting for you. #HajdeShqiperi.

 

Erendita Gërguri: A Chance to Greatness in Taekwondo

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The 22 year-old Kosovar, born in Vragoli of Fushe Kosova, is a fighter, coach, referee, and board member in Kosovo’s Taekwondo Federation.

Erendita Gërguri is also a member of the Olympic Team of Kosovo. KOHA net reports that “she has a high potential to ensure the Olympic norm for Kosovo in RIO 2016.”

The young taekwondo player has lived for three years in Switzerland. Erendita played different sports during her stay there. In 2004, by chance, she started playing Taekwondo. Since then, she has created an unbreakable bond with this sport.

From 2007 until 2012, Erendita was the winner of 5 consecutive champion titles in Kosovo. In 2013, she won the 3rd place in the Taekwondo Balkan Championship. Currently, she is a member of Kosovo’s representation in Taekwondo international competitions.

Kosovo Judoka is set for The Olympics

Nora Gjakova has had an excellent performance at the “Tunis African Open 2015”. The judoka has been awarded with the first place in the 57 kg category, thus bringing a gold medal home to Kosovo. Below you can see her official interview for the europeanjudo channel published in YouTube.

Nora Gjakova won all four battles and has been proclaimed the best on her category (57 Kg). The first lap was easy; Nora Gjakova had no rival. In the second round, she faced Emilie Amaron, and her last opponent was Viola Waechter from Germany. In the semifinals, Gjakova faced Jaione Equisoain from Spain, whom she walked out from victoriously. Her toughest battle was against the French national, Helene Receveaux. The Kosovan was again victorious and went on to grab the gold medal in the “African Open Tunis 2015” tournament.

This triumph of Nora Gjakova is a step forward to the Olympics in “Rio 2016”. Gjakova is a great judoka and alongside Majlinda Kelmendi, represents a potential candidate for Olympic medals.  You can check her judo professional profile here.

Besnik Hasi is Belgium’s Pro League Coach of The Year!

As a result of his success to make the RSC Anderlecht a champion in the Belgium’s football elite, Besnik Hasi was chosen “Coach of The Year” in Belgium. The current coach of RSC Anderlecht was so excited to receive this award, but did not forget to thank his family in Albanian as follows:

“First, I have to thank the club for giving me the opportunity and time to be promoted and become the first coach of the team. It is a great honor! A great dedication goes to my family: I love you, without you I would not be where I am today.”

Gazeta Tribuna brings exclusively the video of his speech.

You can check Hasi’s professional profile here.

Brahimi Excelling in Soccer Coaching

Shemsi Brahimi from Mitrovica, Kosovo is a successful soccer coach for about 300 children in the municipality of Kalmar, Sweden. He trains children of all nationalities and this is what he values the most regarding his work.

Brahimi’s contribution to building a genuine culture of sports for children is highly appreciated and supported by the authorities of Kalmar municiplality, including the Mayor, Johan Persson.

He moved from Kosovo to Sweden in 1997 and since then has worked on enhancing the good reputation of Kosovar community in Sweden.

The original article in Albanian regarding his activity can be found here.