Armenian Youth Federation-YOARF Eastern US
80 Bigelow Ave
Watertown, MA 02472
Tel. (617) 923-1933
Fax (617) 924-1933
PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Dzovig Essajanian
(617) 923-1933
September 24, 2007
AYF-YOARF Holds Successful 74th Annual Senior Olympic Games
WATERTOWN, Mass – From August 30 to September 3, Armenians and AYF
athletes gathered in Seacaucus, NJ for the 74th annual Armenian Youth
Federation-Youth Organization of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(AYF-YOARF) senior Olympic Games. The event saw an overall strong
participation from 12 chapters and 206 athletes.
This year’s event began with a moonlit cruise with views of the New
York City skyline and bridges. Over 250 Armenians from across the
United States gathered to start the weekend by celebrating in the city
that welcomed so many Armenian immigrants many years ago. As usual,
the competition began early on Friday morning with golf and tennis
tournaments. Dedicated AYF athletes swung through the events with
tenacity with Philadelphia’s Taleen Yeremian and New Jersey’s Yero
Saponjian coming out on top in the tennis tournament.
Friday night brought a great highlight to this year’s games with the
swimming competition being held for the first time in a while at an
outdoor pool facility. While the rain held off for a great night of
competition, Providence’s Lynne Tutunjian and Philadelphia’s Daniel
Kaiserian both swept through their events with three gold medals to
become two of the weekend’s many high scorers. On the social side,
Friday night saw the return of singer Harout Pamboukjian, with a large
crowd enjoying his music and entertainment throughout the night.
Also, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, over 700 AYF alumni and friends
gathered for a wonderful evening of camaraderie and fun.
The Saturday softball tournament was played on two fields at Overpeck
Park. Throughout the day teams such as Philadelphia, New Jersey, New
York, Chicago and Boston were eliminated ending in a repeat Providence
win. Along with the softball games, this year children were invited
to participate in a series of kickball games. To conclude the day, the
Aravod Ensemble lead the evening festivities held at the Sheraton
Meadowlands Hotel.
On Sunday, 12 chapters gathered to march in the opening ceremonies.
This year the track and field events turned out to be one of the most
successful the AYF has seen. Amongst the many highlights was Samantha
Essian’s record breaking 100-meter hurdle run. A weekend of
competition ended at the grand ball with the announcement of the
winners. Philadelphia won by a land slide with 272 points with
Providence in second with 137.5 points. This year’s most improved
chapter award went to the New York Hyortik chapter. Men’s high scorers
included Philadelphia’s Daniel Kaiserian and Emmanuel Mkrtchian. The
women’s high scorers were Michelle Hagopian, Samantha Essian, Sevan
Makhoulian Taleen Yeremian, and Lynne Tutunjian. The winners of the
Ernest Nahigian Sportsmanship award were Armen Saryan and Vartan
Mardirosian.
Monday morning capped off the weekend with a picnic at the hotel with
entertainment by the Mike Gostanian Ensemble band. "The New Jersey AYF
and Armenian community did an amazing job planning the AYF Senior
Olympics as a true athletic competition and family affair,’ said
AYF-YOARF Central Executive member Anthony Deese, `It is our hope that
the steering committee for the upcoming Detroit Senior Olympics will
follow in their footsteps and ensure the continued success of the East
Coast’s premier Armenian social / athletic event."
For more information, visit or call the AYF Eastern Region
office at (617) 923-1933.