by Shahane Martirosyan
According to the UCLA Armenian Students’ Association’s constitution, the purpose of the ASA is “To cultivate a true understanding and appreciation of Armenian history, heritage, and culture through cultural, social, and recreational activities… To establish a network of support systems for Armenian-American students.”
Consequently, every year, a different ASA chapter from California hosts a basketball tournament so that all the ASA’s can come together, socialize, and network while playing friendly, yet competitive, games.
Each school sends a team and if possible an alumni team to participate in the tournament. This year it was UCSB’s turn to welcome Armenians from all over California to participate in making Memorial Day weekend an unforgettable one.
Although the main event of the weekend was the basketball tournament, the three days were filled with mixers, outings and Armenian culture.
“This is definitely a great way of getting all the Armenians to come together,” UCLA ASA president Hovanes Ferikian said, “Weekends like these unify Armenians and remind all of us how great our people are.”
The basketball tournament began on Saturday morning. Each team had numerous students who had traveled to Santa Barbara to cheer for their school and display the Armenian unification on each campus.
There were more than 50 Bruins showing their support in Santa Barbara over the weekend. About 35 of them stayed at an ocean-front house rented by the ASA. At the house, the students amalgamated with one another, socialized, lounged by the pool side, over, and enjoyed continuous rounds of card games.
“The house is always the best place for the students from UCLA to bond together,” Ferikian said, “I can guarantee you that many lifelong friendships were made at that house this weekend.”
On Saturday night, the UCSB Gauchos threw a house party where the Armenians danced under Andy’s music until they were all too exhausted to remember if they were in Los Angeles or Santa Barbara.
The following day, the games continued. Although UCLA’s team did not make it into the finals, team leaders Edrik Mehrabi and Rojen Gharagedaghi made sure everyone was aware that the Bruins were in the house.
“Even though we did not win the tournament, we made it up by celebrating as Armenian brothers,” sophomore Taron Khachatryan said.
There were numerous Armenian mixers throughout Santa Barbara on Sunday night. The biggest party was at Zelo’s in downtown Santa Barbara.
The party intensified once the Armenians from UCLA arrived. The club’s owners even turned off the lights to empty out their establishment.
Honoring the Armenian habit of prolonged goodbyes, it took the crowd more than an hour to wrap up their last minute under-the-doorway chats.
As far as the basketball tournament goes, UCLA Armenians still ended up on top as our alumni team, which included former ASA president Raffi Kasabian, won the tournament and finally ended UC Irvine’s winning streak.
The winners left with the priceless victory prize of extensive bragging rights. The weekend brought hundreds of Armenians to one of the most beautiful cities in California. The games were fun, the parties outrageous, and the memories –enthralling.
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