Gezira Sporting Club
Encyclopedia
The Gezira Sporting Club ' onMouseout='HidePop("81866")' href="/topics/Arabic_transliteration">transliteration
:nādī al-ǧazyrah al-reyādī) is the largest multi-sport facility in Egypt
. It was founded in 1882 and was originally called Khedivial Sporting Club. It is located on the island of Zamalek
in Cairo
.
.
Membership was restricted to applicants elected by the committee, on the recommendation of two members, although British army
officers
were automatically enrolled. There were about 750 members. The entrance fee was E£
2. The various subscriptions were as follows:
Guests could visit the club whenever accompanied by those members by purchasing Day Passes for 5 piastres
.
In 1906, the club members asked the Egyptian government for ownership, but their request was refused. Instead, they were granted a 60-year lease.
The exclusive character of the club continued until after World War II
. In January 1952, the club was nationalized and became a public club. Half of its eighteen-hole golf course
were given over to a youth club built by the Egyptian government on the club premises (making it a nine-hole course). The ethos and structure of the club were further altered during the Nasser regime
. Most members of the Gezira Sporting Club were Egypt
ians, but the club's members were from society's elite.
In the early 1960s, the Egyptian government once again took over the club's premises, this time taking half of to make room for a public club called the El Ahly Club, promoting sports among all Egyptians. At that time, much of what was deemed as traditionally aristocratic
was nationalized for the benefit of the poorer majority. These actions made Gamal Abdel Nasser
loved and popular among the middle and lower classes of Egypt
at that time.
Later, when Anwar Al Sadat was president, a new elevated highway (the 6th October Bridge
) was built over the remaining nine-hole golf course and six-furlong racecourse
.
Despite suffering vandalism, the Gezira Sporting Club still offers most of the sports and games practiced by its founders: golf
, tennis
, squash
, croquet
, horse riding and cricket
.
What had started as a British
military club evolved into one of Egypt's
greatest outdoor attractions. Over the next five decades Gezira Sporting Club remained both a landmark and one of Cairo's
greatest assets.
Who can play
Golf services
The 125-year-old par 70 golf course
was the first in Egypt
, and was once its best. Before the Nasser Era
, it was an 18-hole course used only by British nationals.
s. From 1925, international celebrities took part in these widely attended events.
Despite the launch of the Egyptian Lawn Tennis Association Championship in 1934, Gezira Sporting Club continued to offer its two cups:
, the Gezira Sporting Club is in the process of building another branch. The planned location is in the 6th of October City. The club had signed a contract for 50 acres (20.2 ha) of land and construction has started.
Arabic transliteration
Different approaches and methods for the romanization of Arabic exist. They vary in the way that they address the inherent problems of rendering written and spoken Arabic in the Latin alphabet; they also use different symbols for Arabic phonemes that do not exist in English or other European...
:nādī al-ǧazyrah al-reyādī) is the largest multi-sport facility in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. It was founded in 1882 and was originally called Khedivial Sporting Club. It is located on the island of Zamalek
Zamalek
Zamalek Sporting Club , is an Egyptian sporting club based in Meet Okba, Giza, Egypt that plays in the Egyptian Premier League....
in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
.
History
The 150 acre (0.607029 km²) grounds of the Gezira Sporting Club were carved out of the Khedivial Botanical Gardens, which is why acacias and gardens decorated the area. After the land had been formally leased to the British military command, club rules were licensed and the land was divided into several recreational playing grounds. At first, the club was for the exclusive use of the British ArmyBritish Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
.
Membership was restricted to applicants elected by the committee, on the recommendation of two members, although British army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
officers
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
were automatically enrolled. There were about 750 members. The entrance fee was E£
Egyptian pound
The Egyptian Pound is the currency of Egypt. It is divided into 100 Qirsh , or 1,000 Milliemes ....
2. The various subscriptions were as follows:
- Life members: E£ 50.
- Resident members (married): E£ 5.
- Resident members (unmarried): E£ 3.6.
- Country members (those living outside a radius of 23 kilometers from the Cairo Post Office in Attaba Square): E£ 2.
Guests could visit the club whenever accompanied by those members by purchasing Day Passes for 5 piastres
Egyptian piastre
The piastre was the currency of Egypt until 1834. It was subdivided into 40 para, each of 3 akçe.-History:The piastre was based on the Turkish kuruş, introduced while Egypt was part of the Ottoman Empire. As in Turkey, debasement lead to the piastre falling significantly in value...
.
In 1906, the club members asked the Egyptian government for ownership, but their request was refused. Instead, they were granted a 60-year lease.
The exclusive character of the club continued until after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In January 1952, the club was nationalized and became a public club. Half of its eighteen-hole golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
were given over to a youth club built by the Egyptian government on the club premises (making it a nine-hole course). The ethos and structure of the club were further altered during the Nasser regime
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
. Most members of the Gezira Sporting Club were Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ians, but the club's members were from society's elite.
In the early 1960s, the Egyptian government once again took over the club's premises, this time taking half of to make room for a public club called the El Ahly Club, promoting sports among all Egyptians. At that time, much of what was deemed as traditionally aristocratic
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
was nationalized for the benefit of the poorer majority. These actions made Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
loved and popular among the middle and lower classes of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
at that time.
Later, when Anwar Al Sadat was president, a new elevated highway (the 6th October Bridge
6th October Bridge
The 6th October Bridge is an elevated highway in central Cairo, Egypt. The bridge and causeway crosses the Nile River twice from the west bank suburbs, east through Gezira Island to Downtown Cairo, and on to connect the city to the Cairo International Airport to the east.Its name commemorates...
) was built over the remaining nine-hole golf course and six-furlong racecourse
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
.
Despite suffering vandalism, the Gezira Sporting Club still offers most of the sports and games practiced by its founders: golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
, croquet
Croquet
Croquet is a lawn game, played both as a recreational pastime and as a competitive sport. It involves hitting plastic or wooden balls with a mallet through hoops embedded into the grass playing court.-History:...
, horse riding and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
.
What had started as a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
military club evolved into one of Egypt's
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
greatest outdoor attractions. Over the next five decades Gezira Sporting Club remained both a landmark and one of Cairo's
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
greatest assets.
Golf
About the course- 18 holes (played on 9 fairways), Par 70, 5860 yards (5,358.4 m), rating 68, three tees.
Who can play
- Annual members
Golf services
- Pro Shop, caddies, trolleys, driving range, club rental
The 125-year-old par 70 golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
was the first in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, and was once its best. Before the Nasser Era
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
, it was an 18-hole course used only by British nationals.
Tennis
Since 1907, Gezira Sporting Club has been the official home of Egypt's lawn tennis with open tournaments and championships regularly held on its clay courtClay court
A clay court is one of the four different types of tennis court. Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone or brick. The red clay is slower than the green, or Har-Tru "American" clay. The French Open uses clay courts, making it unique among the Grand Slam tournaments.Clay courts are more common...
s. From 1925, international celebrities took part in these widely attended events.
Despite the launch of the Egyptian Lawn Tennis Association Championship in 1934, Gezira Sporting Club continued to offer its two cups:
- The Doherty: awarded for the singlesTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
. - The Slazenger: awarded for the doublesTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
.
Swimming
The Gezira swimming team was founded in the early 20th century. Now is one of the strong swimming teams in the Egyptian Premier National Championships. It is ranked 13th out of 33 clubs.Current sports
There are currently around forty sports played in Gezira Sporting Club. Some are:
|
Hockey Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:... Judo is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an... Polo Polo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Sometimes called, "The Sport of Kings", it was highly popularized by the British. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a... Speedball Speedball is one of the two distinct game variants in the sport of paintball, the other being woodsball. It is a general term for a game in which the playing field is composed of bunkers, of the same location and number on each side of the field, that provide an equal playing field for each team... Squash (sport) Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball... Swimming (sport) Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native... , synchronized swimming Synchronized swimming Synchronized swImming is a hybrid form of swimming, dance and gymnastics, consisting of swimmers performing a synchronized routine of elaborate moves in the water, accompanied by music.... and diving Diving Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one... in swimming there is moustapha hazem who is the fast one o 2000 and farida osman the best of 1995 |
Table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net... Taekwondo Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, tae means "to strike or break with foot"; kwon means "to strike or break with fist"; and do means "way", "method", or "path"... Tennis Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all... Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive... Water polo Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a... |
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Other branch
Like other large clubs in EgyptEgypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, the Gezira Sporting Club is in the process of building another branch. The planned location is in the 6th of October City. The club had signed a contract for 50 acres (20.2 ha) of land and construction has started.