Tournament tribute
Soccer brings Sudanese Canadian community together to honour Rifat Tawfig ’s memory
BERND FRANKE An invitation to spend Saturday afternoon with the Sudanese-Canadian Community of Niagara Region delivered more than it promised.
A soccer tournament featuring six men’s teams from as far as Alexandria, Va., is what first brought people to Pearson Park in St. Catharines.
But fellowship with friends and family and, of course, food kept them there, long after the opening game of the one-day competition.
The memorial tournament marked the first anniversary of the death of Rifat Tawfig, a much-loved and well-respected member of the region’s Sudanese-Canadian community.
The Niagara Falls resident and St. Catharines Flying Club flight instructor was 25 when he died in a plane crash along with two of his students — Ben Jeffries, 19, of Niagara-on-the-Lake; Corey Mijac, 18, of St. Catharines — last October. The wreckage of their Piper PA28 Cherokee, which was the on the way home from a flight to Myrtle Beach, S.C., was discovered in a mountainous region of northern Pennsylvania.
With his eyes focused on the skies from the time he could walk, and determined to emulate an uncle, who was a pilot, Tawfig never got caught up playing Sudan’s national game.
“He loved soccer, but he was a pilot. That was his dream,” said Ahmed Daoud, the director of sports and youth for the Sudanese-Canadian community in Niagara, organizer of the tournament.
He said the close-knit community, which annually hosts gettogethers, such as tournaments, decided to play this year’s competition in Tawfig’s memory.
“We wanted to show what he was about, he was a good person,” Daoud said. “He was a valuable member, he volunteered for all of our functions.
“He helped out the Muslim community as well, he helped out the non-Muslim community.
“For the youth in the community, he was a leader.”
Daoud said holding an event in Tawfig’s memory doesn’t come close to offering thanks posthumously.
“We should do more for the guy.”
Ayat Tawfig, 31, of Niagara Falls, said the family was touched by the tribute to her younger brother.
“How they still remember him, how they wanted to honour him, it’s a great feeling,” she said. “It’s also an honour for our family, to see how the community is giving us support, their love and their blessings.
“Seeing the support and love is something that’s not easy to find these days.”
Ayat wasn’t surprised by the outpouring of support given the makeup of the Sudanese-Canadian community in the region, which numbers between 2,500 and 3,000.
“We don’t see them just as a community, we see them as family members,” she said. “If one is down, we will lift up them.
“We try to support them as much as possible. It’s really more of a family unit than anything else.”
Admission to the community celebration was free but proceeds from a bake sale will be used for the maintenance of an Islamic cemetery in Niagara Falls, which is where Rifat Tawfig is buried.
Though born in Toronto, Rifat spent his formative years attending elementary and high school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where his father was practising medicine.
Rifat attended the University of Waterloo earning degrees in environmental studies and geography and was reunited with his family after his father retired and the family moved back to Ontario.
Rifat was well known at the university for following the three F’s – faith, family and flying – and became an instructor at the St. Catharines Flying Club in Niagaraon-the-Lake.
“The love he had for flying, the passion he has for flying was just unbelievable,” she said.
That his ultimate goal was to pilot passenger jets for Saudi Arabian Airlines was underscored by the T-shirts volunteers wore at Saturday’s tournament.
Fronts of the shirts featured Rifat’s picture with the back showing the silhouette of a black plane with his nickname Jido written in white.
In Sudanese Jido is a term of endearment for grandfather and Ayat chuckled when she recalled how apt it was in her brother’s case.
“His soul was so wise, so driven, and he always reminded my mom of her dad,” she said of a nickname that was first used when her brother was two or three.
“His co-workers and his friends at school would call him Rifat, but within the community, with friends and family, everybody called him Jido.”
Six teams competed in the tournament. Each was guaranteed two games in pool play with the top teams advancing to the semifinals and winners playing in the final.
Two games in pool play, top teams play in the semifinals, with the winners playing in the final.
Hamilton beat London, Ont., 5-0 for the championship.
Rounding out the lineup were teams from Kitchener, Toronto as well as the host team from Niagara.
Among the oldest players on the pitch was Gamaledin Gesour, 51, who recently moved to Niagara Falls but who competed on the Virginia side at the tournament. Gesour was nicknamed “The Fox” when he captained the Sudanese national men’s team 17 years ago.
Dauod said since the Sudanese favour finesse and an aggressive style of play over execution when it comes to soccer, an offensive explosion such as that was to their liking.
“A 1-0 game? Not so much, they think it’s a bad game,” he said with a laugh. “If the ground is not happy with the techniques and how the ball is being passed, they will let you know.
“They don’t care if we win 1-0 or 6-0, they want excitement.”