July 2009

• Hany Fouad: The Strategy Behind Our Success
• 1st Team Pro Transfers for 2nd Division League
• 2nd Place for Laila Omar at the Dutch Open
• Wadi Degla Participates in Akari 2
• JMG's Thailand Camp
• Wadi Degla's Pioneer Tennis

Hany Fouad: The Strategy Behind Our Success

Over the past season, Wadi Degla Sporting Clubs have seen vast accomplishments in the various fields of sports.
One of the most noticeable results last season was the 3rd Division League Champion title for Wadi Degla’s First Team that resulted in the promotion to the Egyptian 2nd Division League creating a new challenge for the team this season to be crowned 2nd Division League Champions and advance to the 1st Division League.
An exclusive interview with Wadi Degla Sporting Club’s Treasurer explains future plans and how Wadi Degla intends to achieve those goals.

Is the success of any sport directly related to its finances?

Mr. Hany Fouad: It is certainly one of the main factors of success for most sports. If we take soccer for example, several teams have good potential but need the finances for transfers of new players & technical staff. Our First Team did not advance to the 2nd Division League 2 seasons ago although they had the resources; this proves that money is not the only factor of success in the sports field.  

What do you think about Wadi Degla’s soccer achievements last season?

Mr. Hany Fouad: I think it was a very successful season overall; the First Team advancing to the Egyptian 2nd Division League after winning the 3rd Division League Champion title with a 12 point difference to the closest competitor and 4 weeks before the end of the League. Our Girl’s team was crowned Premiere League Champions and came 2nd at the North African Tournament. Concerning the junior teams, our U-19 and U-21 teams have won 1st place at the District League whereas our U-16 team came in 3rd place behind Zamalek and El Etissalat. The U-14 and U-12 teams also achieved good results so it was a good season for Wadi Degla’s various football teams. In Belgium, Lierse was a tough contestant but sadly didn’t advance to the Belgian 1st Division League whereas Turnhout got promoted to the 2nd Division League.

What are the achievements of the other sports at Wadi Degla?

Mr. Hany Fouad: Karim Darwish was ranked 9th when he first joined Wadi Degla and is now Squash World Champion after getting the right training and motivation. Our tennis players like Mohamed Safwat, Youssef Ouf and Seif El Sherbiny are constantly improving their ranking through great tournament wins, our swimming team is in top shape as well and the Gymnastics team is becoming very impressive.

In your opinion what factor could make or break a team?

Mr. Hany Fouad: The critical factor in sports is definitely time. In order for our players to develop, we had to provide them with the correct methodologies through El Borolossy Squash academy, Ferrero Tennis academy, Arsenal Soccer School and SwimAmerica Fins academy and in order to show effect they had to be given the right attention, time frame and resources. We at Wadi Degla Sporting Clubs also pay special attention to junior players of various sports to build world class sports figures.

What’s your opinion about most sporting clubs that seek immediate results from junior players?

Mr. Hany Fouad: Those clubs have no futuristic perspective. If you give junior players enough time and the right training they will eventually turn out to be more competitive and skilled than others. The best example for that is our JMG Academy whose players will be shining stars in about 3 or 4 years from now.

How will the new WDS TV channel promote Wadi Degla Sporting Clubs?

Mr. Hany Fouad: WDS TV will be promoting the various Wadi Degla projects whether it is projects or academies like the JMG Academy; we have reason to believe that the sports channel is the best medium to help people remember such projects.

How did it take Wadi Degla Sporting Club only 6 years to open its first sports channel, whereas it took El Ahly Club for example over 100 years to do?

Mr. Hany Fouad: It’s true that El Ahly Club is over 100 years old but television stations got popular only in the 90’s a period where Wadi Degla was not present at. But ever since we’ve constructed the Sporting Clubs we always wanted to own a TV channel. This might be because we are an investment company whereas El Ahly is purely a sporting club.

Why wasn’t the annual Arsenal Soccer School’s trip to the Arsenal Tournament for free like it used to be?

Mr. Hany Fouad: Simply because it is becoming very expensive costing us nearly 1 million pounds. The reason we previously paid all expenses was for marketing purposes. In the future we will be participating with our U-12 team with a total number of 20 people at most.

Why do you think Marina Wadi Degla El Sokhna’s soccer courts were chosen to host the training of the Youth Soccer World Cup training sessions?

Mr. Hany Fouad: First of all this is a very big honor for us at Wadi Degla. In my opinion although the courts lack a couple of facilities, they are of very high quality not usually found in Egypt.

What are your expectations for Wadi Degla’s fist team next season?

Mr. Hany Fouad: I’m expecting very tough competition possibly 9 major competitors namely El Tersana and El Etissalat who were demoted to the 2nd Division, El Nasr, El Dakhleya, El Shams, El Suez, El Kanah. I hope Wadi Degla can make it to the 1st Division soon which is all possible through commitment and training.

What do you ask the players and fans?

Mr. Hany Fouad: I ask the players to be very committed in this upcoming stage and the fans to stand by the team because they are the primary motivation for Wadi Degla players.

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1st Team Pro Transfers for 2nd Division League

Wadi Degla’s 1st soccer team now in the transfer stage after the promotion to the Egyptian 2nd Division League is preparing a new stronger, more skilled and experienced squad to start off the new season. Scheduled to start on the 23rd of September 2009, the new season supported by the new transfers is going to be a tough challenge for Wadi Degla on its road to becoming 2nd Division League Champion.
New team transfers:

• Wisdom Agblexo (CF) from Lierse
• Promise (CB) from Ghana
• Haytham Mohamed (GK) from El Masry Club
• Mohamed El Hadidy (SW) from El Makasa Club
• Saber Hussein (FB) from Petrol Asyout Club
• Mohamed El Husseiny (FB) from El Aluminyoum Club
• Hamdy El Naggar (FB) from El Gouna Club
• Mamdouh Soliman (RB) from Shebin El Koum Club
• Mohamed Ateya (LB) from El Etissalat Club
• Mohamed El Hesry (RB) from El Shams Club
• Mohamed Omran (AM) from GASCO Club
• Ashour El Teky (CM) from Petrol Asyout Club
• Karim Abdel Karim (CF) from El Aluminyoum Club
• Amir Salah Zaky (CF) from El Shams Club
• Wael Abdel Fattah (CF) from Sokkar El Hawamdeya Club

Commenting on the number of transfers Capt. Hesham Zakareya, Technical Manager of Wadi Degla’s Football team, said:” We have a clear vision of our target for this season, which is getting crowned as 2nd Division League Champions, so we chose players who share our vision and have the necessary skills and attitude.”

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2nd Place for Laila Omar at the Dutch Open

As part of the European Competition Tour Wadi Degla’s El Borolossy Junior Squash Team participated at the Pioneer Championship that took place from 1 – 6th of July  in Koeln, Germany and the Dutch Open played from the 7th – 13th of July in the Netherlands with over 400 worldwide top  Junior Squash players competing.
Wadi Degla’s U-15 player Laila Omar won 2nd place at the Dutch Open, resulting in a change in her ranking which brought her to 3rd place of the U-15 players worldwide.  
Laila commented on her win saying:” I would like to thank my coaches and all those who stood by me. I was very close to winning the final match but my competitor was very tough and therefore deserved the win. My upcoming competitions are local tournaments like the Heliopolis and Semouha Championships, granting me the opportunity of playing in the English Squash Junior Open 2010.”

Team rankings during the European Competition Tour:

• Ziad Moustafa – 17th place at the U-13 competition
• Tarek Salah – 13th place at the U-17 competition
• Omar Salah – 13th place at the U-19 competition

New addition to Wadi Degla’s Squash ranks

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Wadi Degla Participates in Akari 2

During the period from 15th to the 19th of July 2009, Wadi Degla Real Estate Development participated at the Akari 2 Exhibition, which was held at the Cairo International Conference Centre.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Eng. Ahmed El-Maghraby Minister of Housing, Utilities & Urban Development who was impressed by the development of real estate projects in Egypt.

Wadi Degla Sporting Clubs
Full scale sports clubs operated using the strictest quality control measures applying the latest techniques and methodologies of modern sports management.  Located in Maadi, New Cairo and soon in 6th of October City, the clubs are home to several international sports academies, namely, the Arsenal Soccer School, JC Ferrero Tennis Academy, SwimAmerica – Fins Academy, and El-Borolossy Squash Academy.  Wadi Degla Sporting Clubs boast a distinguished social milieu, world class facilities and sports professionals, quality and a variety of services that place it in a class of its own.

Marina Wadi Degla El Sokhna
Chalets and villas located on the Red Sea coast allowing units a marvellous view of the sea, pool complex and green areas that stretch out along the project.

Marina Wadi Degla Sidi Abdel Rahman
An exclusive beach resort in the North Coast built on multi-levels with spectacular views of horizon pools, sea and beach stretch.

Wadi Degla Apartments
A gated residential compound made up of apartment buildings conveniently situated off the ring road between Maadi and Katameya.

Wadi Degla Heights
Semi-attached villas surrounding the Wadi Degla Sporting Club in 6th of October; built on a high hill offering residents an enchanting view of the club, city and neighbouring landscape.

Wadi Degla Business Park
High quality flexible business units with an excellent central location in Maadi offering an ideal operational base within a growing business community.

Wadi Degla River Walk
A distinctive residential compound in New Cairo consisting of villas, lush landscape and artificial lakes.

Wadi Degla Canal Residence

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JMG's Thailand Camp

In their first encounter outside the country, Wadi Degla’s JMG Soccer Academy players competed in a friendly tournament in Bangkok, Thailand from 22nd of June to the 10th of July.
Capt. Moustafa Kharouby, Technical Manager of the JMG Academy in Egypt explained the advantages and differences of the Thailand Camp:” First of all I’d like to explain the different tactics that we faced in Thailand: teams in Thailand start the pressure from the beginning of the game, while in Egypt teams usually start off in a defensive formation, playing with 7 defenders. The team participated in 4 games over a period of 3 weeks, winning 2 matches and losing another 2. “
The 1st match took place on the 2nd day of arriving to Thailand which didn’t give us any time for practice resulting in a 7-10 loss. After watching the match replay it turned out that we could have easily won the game but we gave away 5 goals to the competition.
The 2nd match was played on the 27th of June giving us plenty of time to train and prepare. The game which ended in a 16-6 win shed the lights on our academy player Ahmed Abdel Aal who scored 10 of the 16 goals scored during the match and a total of 20 out of a 33 goals overall scored by the team during the tournament.
The 3rd match featured pouring rain, which caused the injury of Ahmed Abdel Aal during the morning training and the loss of the team 3-5.
The 4th and last match was won by Wadi Degla’s JMG academy players 7-2 giving the players confidence.
 
Capt. Moustafa then continued: “The most important lesson for the players is not to fear competitions and not to be distracted by anything while being on the field. Our players should also focus on scoring even if we are ahead while avoiding any mistakes that could lead to goals for the opposition. Players have to learn to be spontaneous; making fast, right decisions.

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Wadi Degla's Pioneer Tennis

Wadi Degla’s pioneer tennis player Osama Fathy has recently won 3rd place at the Cypress, Marbella, Barcelona & Athens International Tennis Tournaments during the period from April till July 2009. The player is expected to participate in the International Sporting Tournament that will take place in Alexandria, Egypt, a competition he has been thoroughly preparing for in a training camp for one month in Los Angeles.

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