sports opinion

school sports

Hussein Al Shaibani

November 28, 2021

In all the plans and strategies that the UAE sport has known throughout its history, school sports have been a mainstay, and at the forefront of its priorities.

With every pause to correct the sports track after any setback, cries of distress would rise to extricate her from her bitter reality as both the disease and the medicine, but the efforts were in vain each time and we return to start where we left off.

The wise leadership has never failed to support projects that would modify the inverted pyramid, and the past decades have witnessed three projects aimed at reviving the role of school sports and screening talented people in the early stages: the first is the Olympic champion, the second is the school Olympics, and the third is the Elite Club. But the outcome of all these projects is zero, as there is no expanded base for selection, no promising talents discovered, and there are no Olympic champions in our hands, despite the fact that the land of the Emirates is rich in large numbers of undiscovered sports talents that need someone to sponsor, adopt and employ their capabilities in the aspiration of a bright future for clubs and national teams on Wings of achievements and championships in various sports.

This is very important, especially in light of the current situation, in which Emirati sport faces many challenges that require concerted efforts and work to advance it in various games. Full of successes, as do all the countries of the world that have reached a distant affair in various sports.

The current reality does not bode well for optimism, in light of the diminished role that schools play to meet ambitions and achieve aspirations, as competitive sports courses and programs are non-existent, and the sports share in schools has become just physical exercises performed by students, and has turned into a heavy duty imposed on them.

It is time for the school to be the main fuel for the clubs and teams and to revive school sports in the coming years, due to the importance of the school’s role in feeding the clubs, and then the teams with the best athletes in all sports, not just football.

The time has come to activate this, especially since the state is able to host Arab school courses to show the true face of school sports in the Emirates in order to prepare today's generation to make future achievements.

• The current reality does not bode well for optimism in light of the diminishing role played by schools.

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