Pan Homenetmen Games - History
At the beginning of the 20th century, following the four Armenian Olympic Games in Constantinople and the three Navasardian Games held after the establishment of Homenetmen, the tradition of inter-chapter games expanded to the diaspora. Between 1927 and 1972, 35 inter-chapter games took place in Aleppo and Beirut. These games were initially organized by Homenetmen’s Regional (Executive) Committee in Syria and Lebanon and later by Homenetmen’s Regional Executive Committee in the Middle East.
The last of these games was held in Beirut in 1972, two years before the establishment of Homenetmen’s global structure. Beginning in 1981, under the initiative of the Homenetmen Central (Executive) Committee, the Pan-Homenetmen Games have been organized every four years in various diaspora regions, and, since 2009, in Armenia.
The first Pan-Homenetmen Games took place in Montreal and Toronto, Canada, in 1981, with the participation of 8 Homenetmen regions. The teams competed in basketball.
The second Pan-Homenetmen Games were held in Los Angeles, United States, in 1985, with 7 regions participating. This time, the teams competed in football.
Valence hosted the third Pan-Homenetmen Games in 1990, where 9 regions competed in basketball.
Canada hosted the Pan-Homenetmen Games for the second time in 1993. Seven regions participated, competing in athletics and football.
In 1997, the fifth Pan-Homenetmen Games took place in Washington, D.C., and New Jersey, with 9 participating regions. Teams competed in football and volleyball for boys’ and girls’ championships.
In 2001, Lebanon hosted the sixth Pan-Homenetmen Games, with 10 participating regions. For the first time, table tennis was introduced alongside football and athletics.
The seventh Pan-Homenetmen Games, held in 2005 in Greece, were the last games to take place in the diaspora. Seven regions, along with Tehran’s HMAG, participated. The main sports events included basketball, volleyball, and swimming.
Afterward, the eighth, ninth, and tenth Pan-Homenetmen Games were held in Armenia in 2009, 2013, and 2017.
The eighth games saw participation from 14 regions and Tehran’s HMAG, featuring competitions in football, basketball, table tennis, and, for the first time, swimming and chess.
In the ninth Pan-Homenetmen Games, the number of participants increased to 16 regions, with Tehran’s HMAG also taking part. New sports included tennis, alongside football, basketball (junior and senior), girls’ volleyball, table tennis, chess, swimming, and athletics.
The tenth Pan-Homenetmen Games, held in 2017, included 19 regions, Tehran’s HMAG, and “Nayiri” organization. The sports events featured football, basketball (junior and senior), girls’ volleyball, athletics, swimming, table tennis, tennis, chess, and, for the first time, futsal. These games, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Homenetmen, were the largest in Pan-Homenetmen Games history, with 1,250 athletes from 21 regions competing in 9 sports.
The 11th Pan-Homenetmen Games, originally scheduled for 2021, were postponed to the summer of 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They took place in Yerevan in 2022, with 19 regions and Tehran’s HMAG participating. The games featured football, futsal, basketball, volleyball, table tennis, tennis, swimming, athletics, chess, golf, 3x3 basketball, and beach volleyball—the latter three being introduced for the first time. Additionally, special skill-based games in football and basketball were organized for children with special needs through the “Hrashk” sports games initiative. The total number of participants reached 850.