Climate
The climate in Armenia is markedly continental. Summers are dry and sunny, lasting from June to mid-September. The temperature fluctuates between 22° and 36°C. However, the low humidity level mitigates the effect of high temperatures. Evening breezes blowing down the mountains provide a welcome refreshing and cooling effect.

Springs are short, while falls are long. Autumns are remarkable for their spectacularly colorful foliage.

Winters are quite cold with plenty of snow, with temperatures ranging between -5° and -10°C. Winter sports enthusiasts can enjoy skiing down the hills of Tsakhkadzor, conveniently located 30 minutes outside of Yerevan.

Lake Sevan nestled up in the Armenian highlands, is the second largest lake in the world relative to its altitude.Enjoying time off on the bright turquoise waters
of Lake Sevan 1,900 meters above sea level

That Sinking Feeling

Armenia's Davis Cup team lost any chance of qualifying for next year's first group in the Euro/Africa zone after suffering a whitewash against Ireland.

Ireland's players came away with a 3-0 victory in Yerevan in a match that had to be postponed for three days because of heavy rain. The contest eventually was played on May 6.

John Doran beat Tsolak Gevorkian (pictured above) 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 in the first singles while Peter Clark also won his singles match in straight sets triumphing 6-0, 7-5, 6-2 over Hayk Hakopian in the second match.

Doran then teamed up with Owen Casey to defeat Gevorkian and Harutiun Sophian in the doubles 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to complete the clean sweep.

However, the Davis Cup tournament is not over yet for the Armenian side Ð they still have to play Ghana, which lost to Slovenia 4-1. The match is scheduled for July 12-14 in Ghana.

If Armenia loses that match it will be relegated from the second to the third group of countries in the Euro/Africa zone.

Armenia's top-ranked player, Sargis Sargsian was unable to compete in the match against Ireland because he was recovering from a knee injury.

The result against Ireland was a disappointment for Armenia, According to the International Tennis Federation rankings for the Davis Cup, Ireland is 58th and Armenia 62nd out of 143 countries.

This is Robert Emmiyan in his prime as a champion long jumper in international competitions in the 1980s.

Emmiyan, from Giumri, Armenia, became European champion in the 1987 European Cup in Prague, Czechoslovakia, with a jump of 8.38 meters. It is a competition record that remains until today, with the exception of a wind-assisted jump recorded by a Greek athlete at the 1994 championships in Valencia, Spain.

The year 1987 was clearly Emmiyan's peak. On May 22, he set a European long jump record of 8.86 meters in Tsakhadzor, Armenia, which still stands 15 years later. He also took a silver medal in the World Championships that year.

Emmiyan also won the long jump contest at the 1986 Goodwill Games and was a record holder and repeated winner of Soviet Union championships.

After the 1988 earthquake that ruined his home city, Emmiyan left for France. He represented Armenia in the 1996 Olympics and in the 1997 World Championships, but age was catching up on him and he finished well down the rankings.

Today, 36-year-old Emmiyan can be found in Doha, the capital of the Gulf Emirate of Qatar, where he has been coaching the long jump national team for the past two years. His proteges won first and second prizes in the Pan-Arabic Games and another took silver in the World Youth Championships. "I am glad to be known as a qualified coach. I have to be very responsible as I am representing Armenia and the Armenian nation," Emmiyan told AIM. "In this way I have a chance to help also my relatives and friends in Armenia."

Students at the Robert Emmiyan School in Giumri are among those he tries to help as a result of his coaching work in Qatar. He returned to Ar- menia on May 30 to Tzakhkadzor, scene of his record leap, to present the Emmiyan Prize in an ath- letics tournament organized for Giumri schools.

Scoring for Kicks

For Alecko Eskandarian, 19, life is really turning out to be "like father, like son." The only difference is his father never scored a goal while Alecko keeps on scoring. It was this month in 1978 at the World Cup in Argentina when his father, Andranik, was a part of the national team of Iran as a defender. Eskandarian was not even born back then. Now, 24 years later, as a starter on the United States Under 23 National Team, Eskandarian attributes all the success he is getting on the soccer field to his father.

"He has taught me everything I know," says the rising star. "He is the biggest part of my success." Eskandarian had shown interest in soccer from the very beginning. "He was almost a year old and just beginning to walk," remembers Andranik. "My wife Anahid was on one side of the room and the soccer ball was on the other. Instead of running to his mother, Alecko ran to the ball, kicked it and fell down." Right there, Andranik knew his son would one day become a fine soccer player. While at Bergen Catholic High School in his native New Jersey, Eskandarian was named the 2000 Gatorade National High School Boys Soccer Player of the Year, scoring over 150 goals in his four years there. Now on a soccer scholarship at the University of Virginia, Eskandarian is continuing on the same streak, scoring over 25 goals in 35 games so far. At 19, Eskandarian was too young to have a real chance of making the US national squad for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea this month. But he will no doubt be aiming for an appearance in the 2006 tournament in Germany, emulating his fatherÕs achievement. At a recent tournament in Portugal, involving some of the top Olympic soccer teams, Eskandarian emerged as the highest scorer in the US team. All that goal scoring has caught the attention of the soccer world and he currently has several offers on the table to turn professional.

"I will be looking at my options as soon as I get home for the summer," says Eskandarian. "Turning pro is a definite possibility."

Just as his father changed course after the 1978 World Cup and joined the New York Cosmos soccer club to play alongside soccer legends Pele and Franz Beckenbauer, the younger Eskandarian is at the threshold of launching into a career where he will have the opportunity to play alongside the soccer stars of today, and perhaps become one.
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