Sports and Super Bowl at Saint Esprit College, Courtesy of the U.S. Embassy

Friday, February 3, 2012

The U.S. Embassy took Super Bowl to the Saint Esprit College in Quatre Bornes on Thursday, February 2, 2012. About 100 students, aged 14-16, participated in the event. The intention, through a demonstration of one of the USA’s favorite sports, was to familiarize students not only with the tradition, but also with the opportunities which can be seized through sports. Therefore, the Education Advisor of the Embassy explained how scholarships were available to students excelling in sports. There are currently over 100 000 sports scholarships available in the U.S.

“In view of Super Bowl 46 which is being played in the United States on Sunday, February 5, the U.S. Embassy shared with Mauritian students something about American football, which is the most popular sport in the United States, but not too well known here in Mauritius.  Embassy diplomats and football enthusiasts, Eddie Warrick and Truong Nguyen, and former Mauritian Yale football player, Vedant Seeam, shared their passion for the sport and performed a little demonstration.  The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League and is the biggest sporting event in the U.S, and the students enjoyed learning about it.  This year the championship game will be played against the New England Patriots and the New York Giants,” U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Officer (PAO) Vanessa Harper said.

PAO Harper also engaged in a sport trivia with the young audience. They also asked many questions about American football, which is mostly seen through films in Mauritius. The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL), the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. This game is held at a pre-selected site, usually a city that hosts an NFL team. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather than the year in which it is held, with Super Bowl I being the 1966 season championship game.