Local Football:

Congratulations to the teams of PAO Gouves, Romanos and Thiagoras on being promoted and we're looking forward to more excitement and thrills from our local clubs in the upcoming season.

PAO Gouves:

President of PAO, Dimitrios Kastellianakis (photo) announced that for the new season they have lost three players, and have signed up nine new players, but are still recruiting. Training starts this month in anticipation for their first championship game in early September. When asked if there was an outstanding player from last season, Dimitrios said that it had been a total team effort to gain promotion. The coach, who has been with them for four years, is Dimitris Eptaminitakis. Sponsors are still being sought, and Dimitrios has asked the demos to allot team buses for away matches. Anyone interested in supporting the team should contact the president on 6945-881479.

Romanos (Elia):

Yiorgos Tzortzis (photo), the new president of Romanos, said for the new season that Romanos will be going for another promotion, and they have three new players, and are waiting to hear from three more, to help them achieve its goal. Twelve players have been released from last season. Training has already begun and some friendly games have been arranged. Romanos' stadium has Astro Turf, a watering system and lighting for training and night games. From last season's team, Yiorgos said that at least 13 players were outstanding.

Thiagoras (Anopoli):

Yiorgos Samarakis (photo), president of Thiagoras Football Club, said that the team is going to work very hard to remain in the new division, "and we're sure we will achieve this."  Thiagoras has four new players at the time of this meeting, and five players have been released from the club. Training has already begun with a new coach, Stavros Tranthalithis. About the team from last season, Yiorgos said that five or six players were outstanding, but again it was a team effort. Regarding pitch improvements, he said that this will be the last season the team will be playing on gravel, as they are hoping for an Astro Turf pitch soon.

OFI:

The owner of OFI Crete, Fanouris Vatsinas, has agreed to sell his controlling stake of the Iraklion club to Iraklion Mayor Yiannis Kourakis for a reported 4.1 million euros, including the club debts of 2.5 million. Recently, 7,000 fans marched the city streets demanding the saving of the club from Mr. Vatsinas, after OFI were relegated to B' Ethniki.

Boxing:

Sonya Lamonakis was born on a small Greek Island and today is a teacher at Harlem's Family Academy, a New York City public elementary school. However, at the end of the day, the school bell sounds more like a boxing bell, when Sonya climbs into the ring. At five-foot-seven and 190 pounds, Sonya is an impressive New York Golden Gloves fighter, and will compete for the heavyweight title this year.  She has also reached the finals of the USA Boxing Championships and will fight in the national Golden Gloves.

Disablity Sports:

Greece won four medals in two separate European Championships for Paralympic athletes in Boccia and Judo. Paralympian Grigoris Polychronidis won gold in the singles event of the B3 category at the European Boccia Championships held in Portugal. Polychronidis who is one of the top athletes in this sport also led Greece to a bronze medal in the pairs event in the same category along with Nikos Pananos and Maria Kordali.

In judo, Maria Keramida won bronze in the 57 kg. category at the IBSA European Championship for visually impaired athletes held in Hungary.

Football:

Greece has climbed six places to the 11^th spot in the FIFA world ranking for July. Also, the Hellenic Football federation (EPO) has decided to move the national team's games back to Athens. Now the Olympic stadium which holds 65,000 people will host the world cup qualifying games between Latvia on October 10 and Luxembourg on October 14.

Doping:

Once again doping has reared its ugly head rocking Greek weightlifting. Nickos Kourtidis and Constantina Lapou have tested positive for the banned substance Stanozolol and it may well bring an end to weightlifting in Greece, one of this country's most popular sports. The doping tally in weightlifting is now 20 in less than 18 months.

 Basketball:

The ninth FIBA U19 World Championship was won by the USA after battling with Greece to eventually win 88 – 80, and so claimed the title for the first time since 1991. The tournament returns in 2011, and if it has the same tension, drama, speed, skill and athleticism as in this championship, basketball fans are in for another treat.

 
Sport to Watch:

Formula One:

August 21 to 23: European Grand Prix, Valencia, Spain;

August 28 to 30: Belgian Grand Prix.

Football:

August 4 - 5: Champions League: Panathinaikos v Sparta Prague; Olympiakos v Zrinski Mostar or Slovan Bratislava;

August 9: Community Shield: Chelsea v Manchester United, Wembly, England.