The Gezira Sporting Club (,

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → and → the digraph , Cyrillic → , Armenian → or L ...

:''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 Zamalek ( , ''al zamalek'') is a ''qism'' (ward) within the West District (''hayy gharb'') in the Western Area of Cairo, Egypt. It is an affluent district on a man-made island which is geologically a part of the west bank of the Nile River, wit ...

in Cairo.

History

The grounds of the Gezira Sporting Club were initially carved out of the ''Khedivial Botanical Gardens'', and as a result acacias and gardens decorate the area. After the land had been formally leased to the

British military The British Armed Forces are the unified military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping e ...

command in 1882, 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 Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. Membership was restricted to applicants elected by the committee, on the recommendation of two members, although British army

officers An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

were automatically enrolled. There were about 750 members. Guests could visit the club whenever accompanied by those members by purchasing Day Passes for . In 1906, the club members asked the

Egyptian government The politics of Egypt takes place within the framework of a republican semi-presidential system of government. The current political system was established following the 2013 Egyptian military coup d'état, and the takeover of President Abdel ...

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 or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In January 1952, the club was

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

and became a public club. By this point, most members of the Gezira Sporting Club were Egyptians, but the club's members were from society's elite. As a result of nationalization, the ethos and structure of the club were to be altered during the Nasser regime. Half of its eighteen-hole

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

were given over to a youth club built by the

on the club premises (making it a nine-hole course). Much of what was deemed as a traditionally

aristocratic Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

asset was nationalized. During Anwar Al Sadat's presidency, a new

elevated highway An elevated highway is a controlled-access highway that is raised above grade for its entire length. Elevation is usually constructed as viaducts, typically a long pier bridge. Technically, the entire highway is a single bridge. Reason to cons ...

(the

6th October Bridge The 6th of October Bridge ( ) is an elevated highway in Cairo, the capital city of Egypt. The bridge and causeway crosses the Nile twice from the western bank suburbs, east through Gezira Island to Downtown Cairo, and on to connect the city to ...

) was built over the remaining nine-hole golf course and six-furlong

racecourse A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also us ...

causing the size of the club to further erode. Despite suffering vandalism, the Gezira Sporting Club still offers most of the sports and games practiced by its founders:

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

squash Squash most often refers to: * Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets * Squash (plant), the fruit of vines of the genus ''Cucurbita'' Squash may also refer to: Sports * Squash (professional wrestling), an extr ...

croquet Croquet ( or ) is a sport which involves hitting wooden, plastic, or composite balls with a mallet through hoops (often called Wicket, "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court. Variations In all forms of croquet, in ...

horse riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

. As of 2012, membership was estimated to consist of 43,000 families.

Basketball

Golf

; About the course : 18 holes (played on 9 fairways), Par 70, , rating 68, three tees. ; Who can play : Annual members The 125-year-old par 70

was the first in Egypt.

Tennis

Since 1907, Gezira Sporting Club has been the official home of Egypt's

lawn tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

with open tournaments and championships regularly held on its

clay court A clay court is one of the types of tennis court on which the sport of tennis is played. Clay courts are built on a foundation of crushed stone, brick, shale, and other construction aggregate, aggregate, with a thin layer of fine clay particles ...

s. From 1925, international celebrities took part in these widely attended events as it staged the International Championships of Egypt. 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

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

. * The Slazenger: awarded for the doubles.

Swimming

The Gezira swimming team was founded in the early 20th century.

Current sports

There are currently around forty sports played in Gezira Sporting Club. Some are:

Other branch

Like other large clubs in Egypt, the Gezira Sporting Club has built another branch. The location is in the

6th of October City 6th of October ( ; ) is a city in the Giza Governorate of Egypt. It is a satellite city, located adjacent to Giza, and is part of the Greater Cairo region.

. The club had signed a contract for of land and construction has started. The club in 6 October has been operational since February 2020 with more developments to follow/

References

{{reflist Clubs and societies in Egypt Gezira Island Sports clubs and teams established in 1882 Organisations based in Cairo Sports clubs and teams in Cairo Sports venues in Cairo Water polo clubs in Egypt 1882 establishments in Egypt