On Saturday, January 5, 2013 the GSA had their annual holiday dinner. It was the perfect way to start off the year as executives, directors and associates attended in good spirits. The Christmas party, so to speak, was held at our very own presidents’ residence, Dimitri Kyriakakis. The event was a potluck, so many fantastic Greek foods were present; some of these foods include tiropita, spanakopita and various meats and cheeses.  After food and several alcoholic beverages were consumed, the GSA executive team exchanged “Secret Santa” gifts. Of course, each member drank responsibly. It was a productive and rewarding night with memories to last into the next GSA year. A very special Thank You goes out to Dimitri’s mother, Rita, who spent hours cooking up a storm, we love her more with each passing year!

On December 22^nd 2012, the York University Hellenic Students’ Association held the first ever SEF Soccer Tournament. Located at the Metro Golf Dome in Scarborough, they were able to assemble ten teams who would compete in a cash tournament for a grand prize of $1000 awarded to the championship victor. Each team battled throughout the four game group stage for a shot at the knockout round. After five hours of intense matchups, blowouts and heartbreak, two teams would meet in the final round. Lizard FC, a group of handsome young Greek gentlemen captained by the Prophet himself, Toronto native and fellow UofT student Yianni Michelis would duke it out against Olympiakos FC. As exciting a match as it was, Olympiakos, a talented group of middle-aged Serbians would take home the cash prize after scoring a late goal in the second half.

“Considering it was our first annual tournament we had an amazing turnout, even having to turn down multiple teams because we were over capacity,” a comment from HSA President Nicolitza Xinos, who seemed very content with the outcome. The HSA were also able to rack up generous contributions from more than ten sponsors, making the tournament an even bigger success. The HSA are currently preparing for their next SEF Soccer Tournament, to be held sometime in the spring after strong positive feedback from the players and organizers. After being interviewed on his general thoughts, Lizard FC player Christopher Vassos stated “’twas great”. In conclusion, the tournament turned out to be nothing short of spectacular in terms of competition, turnout, and fundraising, benefitting all those who participated.

On December 20^th, 2012 SEF Toronto held a Skate Night and Toy drive at Lake Devo. On behave of the Greek Students’ Association at the University of Toronto we would like to thank each and every one of you who came out and showed your support. The toys we donated made lots of children very happy on Christmas day; it’s nice to know that we were all a part of that. Unfortunately, the weather conditions forced us to cancel the actual skating on that night – which is too bad because we heard Nikki has some delicious figure skating moves. Nevertheless our Toy Drive was an over all success.

To view the entire gallery, click here: https://utgsa.com/gallery/skate-4-toys-2012/ 

On Friday, November 23, International Night was hosted at the Isabel Bader Theatre. The event took place at 7 pm, and although many ethnicities partook in the event, the Greek Students Association was by far one of the best performances. Several GSA members joined forces to create a fantastic dance, combining Kalamatiano and Tsamiko. If the dancing was not incredible enough, the outfits most certainly took the cake. Dressed in traditional assortments, provided by the Greek Community of Toronto, GSA represented our heritage spectacularly. The cultural show was a complete success and UTSU aspires to turn this into an annual event.

On Thursday November 22, the GSA at the University of Toronto welcomed all FIFA enthusiasts to enter a FIFA tournament which took place at A&C Games. Although the tournament had minimal entries, the tournament proceeded and found a new FIFA champ. All players and GSA members were then invited to a pub night at Shoeless Joe’s.