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Feature Stories

NEWS | Jan. 3, 2019

2018 US-Kuwaiti Basketball Tournament

By Spc. Robert Torres U.S. Army Central

The 2018 Kuwaiti - U.S. Basketball Tournament hosted by Area Support Group - Kuwait, wrapped up its final game with the Kuwait Army's 94th Mechanized Infantry Brigade winning the tournament at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, Dec. 29, 2018.

The tournament was rescheduled multiple times due to an unusual amounts of rainstorms that caused road closures.

Although rain affected the tournament schedule, U.S. Army Soldiers with the ASG-KU basketball team and Kuwaiti soldiers assigned to the 94th MIB were finally able to compete.

“I believe it builds teamwork between us two and it’s just a good time to have us out here,” says U.S. Army Spc. Cadarius Brantley, a signal support systems specialist with the 75th Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company.

The game also allowed members from the United States Military and the Kuwait Armed Forces to interact with each other outside their military responsibilities.

While playing, soldiers have the opportunity to meet people from other cultures and backgrounds outside of a military setting. Abdullah Al-saeid, a soldier with the 94th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, says that playing in the basketball game allowed him to gain new friends and everyone left with new experiences.

While competing with one another, the soldiers from both the U.S. and the Kuwait teams still showed compassion and sportsmanship to one another.

“They make sure we don't get hurt and we make sure they don't get hurt. If it was a hard foul we came and talked to each other about it and settled it right then and there. No bad blood. No hurt feelings,” said Brantley.

Participating in these types of events demonstrates our enduring commitment to host nation partners.

“I think it brings us together, even out of the sports world as military in general,”said Brantley. "We were able to go to them for anything and they were able to come to us for anything.”