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Losing Isn’t in Their DNA: Pierce and Connor Shaya

They never lose. Never. The Shaya brothers — Pierce and Connor — each won a flight championship at the Division 1 boys tennis state tournament this fall in Midland to maintain their perfect record at the sport’s biggest stage.

2023 Team Chaldean Middle East Cup Champions

Chaldeans and Golf

As we approach the end of fall, Danny Shaba, Nick Hermiz, and I reflect on another season of golf, full of intense competition, thrilling finishes, and memorable moments. This was a golf season that included winning, losing, and most importantly, creating experiences—experiences that we try to build on every year within the Chaldean community. For Chaldeans, that was not always the case.

Unstoppable: Ella Lucia is Headed to Harvard

Ella Lucia is a teenage wonder woman. She’s a star girls hockey player and an outstanding student who has made a verbal commitment to take her hockey skills and academic acumen to Harvard University, a prestigious Ivy League college. Lucia announced July 31 that she has “committed to the admissions process” at Harvard.

Terrific Tennis Trio

Raegan Tomina. Kayla Nafso. Alana Hindo. Three Chaldean girls, three winners of high school state championships in tennis this past spring.

Adrianna Kattoo Emerges From the Shadows

Adrianna “Adri” Kattoo was never in the starting lineup for the Birmingham Marian High School girls’ soccer team before this season. She never played forward for the Mustangs before; she was a center-back on defense. But the senior needed to be in the Marian starting lineup this season. And she needed to play forward.

Cool as Ice: The Chaldean Hockey League

Josh Garmo skated up the right wing, deked Brendan Danou, eluded two other players, and sent a perfectly placed shot into the top left corner of the net. It was a spectacular goal, and it gave Team Red a thrilling 4-3 overtime win over Team Green in the first game of the best-of-three Chaldean Hockey League playoff championship series.

Set Up for Success

Ava Sarafa’s storied volleyball career at Birmingham Marian High School is over. Now she’s getting ready for the next stop in her journey. Soon, she’ll be off to the University of Kentucky to play volleyball for the national powerhouse Wildcats. “Time has gone by so quickly since I verbally committed then signed, especially since I signed,” she said, referring to September 4, 2021, when she made a verbal commitment to Kentucky.

Celebrating the Gulf Cup Around the World

Eevin Esho, 25, and his mother were shopping at the Dream Market Supermarket in Sterling Heights, at the corner of 15 Mile and Ryan roads, when suddenly they saw two people excitedly running outside with Iraqi flags. More people began rushing outside, cars started honking their horns, and people danced in the parking lot. Esho, too, bought a flag from the adjacent store and started celebrating with the crowd.

Basketball Bronco

Michael Sulaka and Western Michigan University appear to be made for each other. Sulaka, a 6-foot-9-inch, 215-pound senior forward on the defending Division 1 state champion Warren De La Salle High School boys basketball team (who is considered the top “big man” in the state and a serious candidate for the state’s Mr. Basketball Award), has signed to play for Western Michigan.

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Shaya Brothers Rule the Court

State champions. Times two. That’s what you can call Bloomfield Hills High School boys tennis players Connor Shaya and Pierce Shaya.

CCF Basketball Camp Scores Big

About 30 sixth- through eighth-grade students from Grissom Middle School in Sterling Heights learned about basketball and much more this summer at a no-cost camp designed especially for them.

Detroit City Football Club Signs Young Chaldean Star

Earlier this year, at the tender age of 18, Dominic Gasso was signed to the first team at his hometown club, Detroit City Football Club. This is a huge step for Gasso who, until now, has played exclusively for youth teams. Gasso grew up in Grand Blanc, a city located about one hour north of Detroit. Many Chaldeans live there and congregate at St. Paul Chaldean Church. As a teenager, Gasso played for Vardar Soccer, which is known across Michigan as one of the state’s top youth soccer programs.

Family First: Jeremy Denha changed coaching jobs to return to his alma mater

Every high school coach will tell you that he or she has two families. There’s the team’s family, and the coach’s actual family.

Order on the Court

Michael Sulaka was a big reason why Warren De La Salle won a state championship, coach Brandon Sinawi’s Detroit Catholic Central team staged a remarkable late-season turnaround, and coach Joe Sermo’s Berkley team played in an emotional game where the final score wasn’t that important.

Brian Kassa (left), PJ Jonna and Kyle Kassa from Chaldean Hockey League playoff champion Team Green hold the coveted Telga Cup.

Sticking Around: Revived Chaldean Hockey League All About Community and Competition

First there was a two-season pause. Then there was a pandemic that ended a season just before a champion was crowned.

Walled Lake Western grad Joey George was a special football player at U-M

Taking His Talents to New York

Joey George is ready to tackle the investment banking world. After joining the University of Michigan football team as a preferred walk-on in 2018 and working his way up to becoming a valued special teams player this past season, George will head to New York City after he graduates in May.

Set for Success

Ava Sarafa became serious about playing volleyball when she was 11. Tall for her age, she figured she’d be a hitter. She never dreamed when she went to high school, she’d become one of the best setters in the state and a future Division I college player.

Relentlessly Positive

She runs her own public relations company. She does marketing and communications for a family company.

She’s on the Michigan State House of Representative Youth Government Council for her district, is a four-year member of her high school’s student government, a qualifier for a national high school forensics competition in original oratory, and a 3.9 GPA student.

Sacred Heart Doubles Duos Pump Out Victories

Two all-Chaldean girl’s tennis doubles teams were double trouble for their opponents this spring. Sisters Marisa and Kayla Nafso and close friends Noor Simon and Angelina Kakos were state champions at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles, respectively, for Bloomfield Hills Academy of the Sacred Heart, which won the Division 4 team state championship for the third straight year and seventh time since 2012.

Redemption on the Ice

The Birmingham Brother Rice High School hockey team’s season started, stopped, resumed, and ended up being a seven-week sprint to the finish. If those weren’t enough distractions, a handful of team members drove to Lansing on a freezing cold January day to attend a “Save Our Sports” rally at the Capitol building in Lansing, pleading for a chance to play.

Blazing a Trail on the Golf Course

Martin Hanna doesn’t want to be alone, so he’s doing everything he can to get others to join the party. After doing all the requisite research, Hanna believes he’s the first Chaldean golfer to pass the PGA’s player ability test.

The Ball Bounces

Brandon Sinawi and Jeremy Denha have had to be more than coaches as they’ve navigated the ever-changing landscape of high school sports during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sinawi is in his third season as the boys’ basketball coach at Novi Detroit Catholic Central after being the coach at Novi for four years; Denha is in his 11th season as the boys’ basketball coach at West Bloomfield after coaching at Berkley for three years.

Chaldean in Sports

2022 STORIES

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