Libya’s Students Sports Federation Holds Beach Volleyball Championship for Peace

Photo Credit: Jihad Hamadi, Libyan FISU student Ambassador More than 20 teams participated in the first Libyan Students Sports Federation (LSSF) Beach Volleyball championship tagged the Peace Championship. The event, which was hosted by the Municipality of Almaya, Al-jfara University and Al-azema club, was held in Wershfana on 24-25 June 2021.

The Championship marks the return of active university sports in the country, following a lengthy absence due to the Covid-19 pandemic that halted all forms of sports competitions in 2020 including university sports.

The Secretary-General of the Libyan Students Sports Federation Mr. Tariq Ahshad said that the championship was named “Peace Championship” because it has united the youth from all parts of Libya, after years of internal conflict. “In the past the association has faced some difficulties in picking the best teams to participate in the international events, so we decided to organise Championships to detect the best talents, starting from the beach volleyball championship, of which the winner will participate in the Arab universities championship in Muscat, Oman, next year”.

Beach Volleyball has gained traction in the region due to the long Libyan coast of 1,900km. The game started to gain fame among the youth in recent years, played on many beaches across Libya in the summer, from that came the idea of organising competitive championships, one of which is the Wershfana-Peace U24 University Championship which was attended by teams from across the country. “The teams travelled to prove the great base of the game and we hope that this game will always be supported in all Libyan regions to show the true face of the Libyan youth who are eager to shine,” Tariq Ahshad said. “It’s worth saying that the Libyan team was ranked second in the Arab universities Championship in Muscat, Oman, in 2020.”

After two intense days of competition the duo of Wael Al-Malti and Jumaa Fetais from the University of Zuwara (College of Engineering) emerged champion of Libya. Anas Al-Wadani and Munther Abu-Lababa from the University of Benghazi (College of Medical Technology) came in second while Siwar Al-Sharif and Miftah Al-Subaihi from the University of Benghazi (College of Physical Education) finished in third place.

Tournament winner Jumaa Adel Fetais said: “The level of competition was intense which is good for beach volleyball in Libya, in addition to that, we made many friendships and got the opportunity to get acquainted with colleagues from all over Libya. I wish events like this will happen more often in the future because of their many advantages both on sports and community. I also thank the supervising and organising committee of this tournament for the organisation and coordination, and also to the Al-Azema club that hosted the tournament.”

Mohamed Sola, coach of the Libyan university beach volleyball team, said that a committee was formed to prepare courts according to the laws of the International Volleyball Federation, and for the first time in Libya, the number of participating teams reached 20 and were from all parts of Libya.

Libyan Students Sports Federation (LSSF) will follow up its efforts in organising university sports championships – with its first Tennis Championship in the Al Bayda city scheduled to start on 10 July – to choose the players who will participate in the Federation of African University Sports (FASU) tennis championship in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and subsequently to the FISU World University Games in Chengdu next year.