The Antranik Youth Association (AYA) ( ar, جمعية شباب الأنترانيك; ), or simply Antranik (; ), is a
Lebanese-Armenian
The Armenians in Lebanon ( hy, Լիբանանահայեր, translit=Libananahayer; ar, الأرمن في لبنان; french: Arméniens du Liban) are Lebanese citizens of Armenian descent. There has been an Armenian presence in Lebanon for centur ...
multi-sports and cultural club based in
Antelias
Antelias ( ar, أنطلياس) is a city in Lebanon in the Matn District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate. It is located around 5 km to the north of Beirut.
Etymology
The name is originally Greek, ἀντήλιος – from ἀντί(ant ...
,
Matn District
Matn ( ar, قضاء المتن, '), sometimes spelled Metn (or preceded by the article El, as in El Matn), is a district (''qadaa'') in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of Lebanon, east of the Lebanon's capital Beirut. The district capital is Jd ...
, Lebanon. Established in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
, Lebanon in 1931, it has consisted of various sports departments throughout their history, including
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
,
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
,
cycling
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...
,
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
,
taekwondo
''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...
,
chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
,
table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...
, and
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...
.
Named after the Armenian military commander
Antranik Ozanian, Antranik is the Lebanese section of the
Armenian Youth Association
The Antranik Youth Association (AYA) ( ar, جمعية شباب الأنترانيك; ), or simply Antranik (; ), is a Lebanese-Armenian multi-sports and cultural club based in Antelias, Matn District, Lebanon. Established in Beirut, Lebanon i ...
(AYA), the sports, cultural, and youth program of the
Armenian General Benevolent Union
The Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU, Eastern Armenian: Հայկական Բարեգործական Ընդհանուր Միություն, ՀԲԸՄ, ''Haykakan Baregortsakan Endhanur Miutyun'', or hyw, Հայ Բարեգործական Ընդ ...
(AGBU). Antranik has branches in Beirut, Antelias,
Zahlé
Zahlé ( ar, زَحْلة) is the capital and the largest city of Beqaa Governorate, Lebanon. With around 150,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Lebanon after Beirut and Tripoli and the fourth largest taking the whole urban area (t ...
,
Sin el Fil
Sin el-Fil ( ar, سنّ الفيل / ALA-LC: ''Sinn al-Fīl'') is a suburb east of Beirut in the Matn District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon.
Overview
Etymology
The name literally means 'ivory': "tooth" (''sinn'') of "the elephant" ...
, and
Bourj Hammoud
Bourj Hammoud (also spelled Burj Hammud; ar, بُرْجُ حَمُّودٍ; hy, Պուրճ Համուտ) is a town and municipality in Lebanon located north-east of the capital Beirut, in the Matn District, and is part of Greater Beirut. The to ...
.
Basketball
Founded in 1987, Antranik's men's basketball team have participated multiple times in the
Lebanese Basketball League
The Lebanese Basketball League is the top-tier professional men's basketball league in Lebanon. It is organized annually as a national championship with playoffs and a national cup by the Lebanese Basketball Federation (FLB).
Currently, the leagu ...
. The women's team have won the league 10 times in a row, between 2002 and 2012, and have been crowned champions of the
twice.
Football
Antranik formed its
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team in 1931; they were one of the
Lebanese Football Association
The Lebanese Football Association (LFA) ( ar, الاتحاد اللبناني لكرة القدم, Al-Ittiḥād Al-Lubnānī Likurat Al-Qadam; french: Fédération Libanaise de Football) is the governing body of association football in Lebanon. ...
's founding members in 1933. The first team participated in the
Lebanese Premier League
The Lebanese First Division ( ar, الدوري اللبناني الدرجة الأولى), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. There are 12 teams competing in the league, ...
during the 1930s and 1940s, while their
reserve team
In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...
played in the
Lebanese Second Division
The Lebanese Second Division ( ar, الدوري اللبناني الدرجة الثانية) is the second division of Lebanese football. Established in 1933, it is controlled by the Lebanese Football Association. The 12 teams that participate ...
, winning it in 1940–41. They currently play in the .
Other activities
The Lebanese chapter of Antranik also runs numerous cultural activities including its own
theatrical group, the Troupe Vahram Papazian, named after the pan-Armenian actor
Vahram Papazian
Vahram Papazian or Papazyan ( hy, Վահրամ Քամերի Փափազյան, January 6, 1888 in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire – June 5, 1968 in Yerevan, Armenia), was a Soviet actor who was an ethnic Armenian, mostly known for his Shakespea ...
. They also run a programme in
scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antanik
Antranik Youth Association
Sport in Beirut
1931 establishments in Lebanon
Tennis teams
Armenian-Lebanese culture
Scouting and Guiding in Lebanon
Diaspora sports clubs