Photo By Spc. Elayseah Woodard-Hinton | The Lady Patriots of Camp Patriot's women basketball team played the Kuwait national...... read more read more
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By Spc. Elayseah Woodard-Hinton
20th Public Affairs Detachment
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - The Lady Patriots women's basketball team, of Camp Patriot, Kuwait, played the Kuwait national women's team in the Zone 1 Gym at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Oct. 17, 2008.
The game, arranged by Host Nation Affairs, Area Support Group - Kuwait, was a way to continue to build upon relations between the U.S. military and Kuwait.
"The game is part of our Good Neighbor program to build good will," said Lt. Col. Rodney P. Rose, director, Host Nation Affairs. "It's a way for us to say thank you to the Kuwaiti government for having us here."
Before the start of the game, Rose and the ASG-KU commander, Col. Christopher K. Hoffman, welcomed the guests and spoke of how important the day's event was for both the U.S. military and Kuwait.
"This is an example of international sportsmanship," said Hoffman. "It's a monumental event."
After the welcome, a gift exchange took place between the command and the Kuwait team as a display of their appreciation.
Once the game officially started, the stands were filled with cheering service members and a small group of Kuwaiti local basketball fans in support of the event. Although a majority of the fan base was made up of servicemembers, the support for the teams was evenly distributed throughout the game, the lively crowd cheered whenever either team scored a point.
The women played two, 20-minute periods and at the end of the first period, the Kuwait national women's team held an 11-6 lead against the Lady Patriots.
The Kuwait women's team continued to lead the game during the second half, but not without a fight from the Lady Patriots who, during the last few minutes of the game, gained several points reducing the Kuwaiti team's lead.
However, the Kuwait National Women held on and came out victorious, winning 26-22.
"It was a great game," said Mariam Al-Ameeri, Kuwait national womens team. "The [Lady Patriots] played good, I'm proud of our girls and I really want to come back."
Despite their loss, there were no hard feelings from the Lady Patriots. Members of both teams remained in good spirits while chatting with each other and posing in pictures with fans who attended the game.
After the excitement of the crowd died down at the gym, the teams joined each other for dinner in the Zone 1 dinning facility.
A dinner that Seaman Nicole S. Joyner, starting forward and co-captain with the Lady Patriots, said she was looking forward to because it would give her a chance to sit down with the Kuwait women and learn more about them and their culture.
The game between the Lady Patriots and the Kuwait national women proved that basketball can be used for more than a means to demonstrate sportsmanship, it can also serve as a means to build bonds between people and cultures.
| Date Taken: | 10.17.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 10.29.2008 12:24 |
| Story ID: | 25682 |
| Location: | CAMP ARIFJAN, KW |
| Web Views: | 425 |
| Downloads: | 370 |
This work, Game builds bond between two nations, by SPC Elayseah Woodard-Hinton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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