Homenetmen Glendale Ararat Chapter, founded on Dec. 15, 1978, is the largest of the 18 Western United States chapters. With two campuses located on San Fernando Road, the chapter offers a variety of athletic, scouting and cultural programs for the young as well as the old.
“In any Armenian community in the diaspora, after building a church and a school, they start a Homenetmen,” the organization’s executive director Armond Gorgorian said.
The chapter is headquartered at the Ararat Center, which features two full basketball gyms, a hall exclusively for gymnastics, a gym for martial arts and the administrative offices.
The North Campus has two gyms, a table tennis hall, a fitness center and a children’s corner to be built soon.
Sports practices take place twice a week, while scouting activities are held every Sunday.
The scouts participate in several weekend or weeklong educational camps. Since 2009, the scouting division has been preparing the scouts to become Eagle Scouts, which is the highest honor that they can achieve. As of now Ararat has five Eagle Scouts.
The choir, composed of more than 40 members, meets every week and performs annual concerts. In addition, Homenetmen Ararat hosts 6-8 cultural and educational events each year, including one in commemoration of the Armenian Genocide on April 24.
In 2010, Homenetmen Glendale launched a program called Optimal Health Community Wellness Center, which provides health and fitness classes to people of all ages. The group fitness classes, divided into 6-week increments, include cardio, gentle stretching, and muscle sculpting exercises, as well as health education.
The Ararat Chapter also offers seasonal programs, such as the Basketball Development League, also known as the D-League, and the Jr. NBA for children ages 5-12.
Aside from athletic, scouting and cultural programs, Homenetmen Ararat Chapter also offers merit-based scholarships for undergraduate study. Starting this year, the Rima Abedi Sagherian Scholarship will be available to Ararat members. Sagherian was a past Chapter and Regional board member, and her husband created the scholarship fund in her memory. The scholarship will be in the amount of up to $10,000 to be divided among three people.
The chapter also organizes the annual Glendale Friendship Games during which Homenetmen athletes compete against other teams from Glendale and neighboring communities.
From time to time Ararat athletes travel outside the country to participate in competitions such as the Pan-Armenian games in Armenia and the tournaments held by Homenetmen regions around the world.
There is a membership fee for joining Homenetmen. Reduced fees are available for college students and families. Membership dues cover one third of Ararat’s budget. The rest of the funding comes from the federal government in the form of Community Development Block Grants and from donations and fundraising events.
The oldest member of the chapter is a 70-year-old table tennis player who practices once or twice a week.
Since its inception, Homentemen Glendale has claimed numerous victories in many different tournaments, including the Navasartian and the Pan-Armenian games. Yet, according to Gorgorian, the true accomplishments of the organization lie beyond medals and trophies.
“Although we are proud of our achievements in athletic and scouting fields,” he said, “we are even prouder that we’ve had a role in educating these youngsters and have helped them become solid citizens and good members of the community.”
