The Vice-President of the Golf Federation, Adel Al-Zarouni, revealed a significant increase in the number of golf practitioners in the country, both citizens and residents, during the past 10 years, as it increased from 40 players registered in the association's and club's statements to 12 thousand registered players, including 9000 club members, The percentage of citizens is about 10%, he said.
Al-Zarouni said to «Emirates Today»: «Great efforts made by the Golf and Clubs Association, during the past ten years, contributed to increasing the number of practitioners of this game strange to our Arab societies, but these efforts, programs and strategic plans, which were adopted during the past 10 years, It had impressive results. ”
He explained: «The Federation’s efforts, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education in the past two years, have also brought the game into the school curriculum, which has greatly assisted in attracting large numbers of promising talents, exceeding the barrier of 6000 citizens and residents, which came in conjunction with packages offered by the clubs Modern and spread in various regions of the state, all of which are directed to increase the number of practitioners significantly to record these huge increases ».
He added: «There are misconceptions about the game that we succeeded in changing, perhaps the most prominent of which is the financial cost associated with it, which is much less than what some people think is primarily (aristocratic) sport, especially after the game proved its global spread, through its success in entering the games agenda Olympics since 2016, which in itself helped motivate parents in directing their children to practice this sport, and thus reflected in the past few years to achieve greater proportions in terms of increasing the number of practitioners ».
He continued: «These efforts have combined with a promising strategy for the Union, by launching years ago its pioneering national program related to discovering emerging talents, which opened the door to talents that have become a difficult number in the national teams today, and achieved remarkable results, both in the Gulf and Arab championships, among them For example, the player Ahmed Skik, who is close to completing his university studies, is a competitive Emirati player project, in addition to our young player Rima El Helou, who confirmed her talent at an early age and succeeded in more than one occasion by winning the gold of the Gulf Championships, which are the same plans Which x Continued to work in the near future, with the blood of young Brphi teams and improve the results to affect continental and global ».
And Al-Zarouni considered that the numbers of players ’transformation into professionalism should be studied, and according to the capabilities and ability to compete and not just apply it, and he said:“ In Britain there are 12 million golfers, but 150 of them are classified (professional players) participating in world championships, so finding "A competitive professional is a first step in finding other players in the coming period."
Al-Zarouni drew attention to the major tournaments hosted by the state, and he said: «Certainly, the major tournaments hosted by the state contributed to drawing the attention of citizens and residents alike, which helped the Federation in promoting its local and national championships that are held throughout the year, which are confirmed by figures and statistics , That the country’s clubs host a very large number of seasonal tournaments, whether for companies, or those that fall under international tournaments, and even those organized by the Federation, which totals 100 tournaments annually.
Take advantage of newborns and residents
Al-Zarouni said that "the inclusion of state-borns and residents in Emirati golf will accelerate the transition steps to full professionalism and the ability to have players from the state in the major world championships for professional players."
He added: “Emirati golf has contributed over the past years to opening the door to the names of young players residing in making their way towards globalization, and they have succeeded in reaching the biggest championships, including the Indian Rayhan Thomas, who has become a difficult number in his country’s team, and the British Joshua Hill, Who last year became the youngest player in history to win the title of internationally accredited championship, when he was 15 years old.
Al-Zarouni confirmed the presence of 12 players during the current period of births under the federation’s radar. He said: “The Federation put in its strategic plans a maximum benefit from the high decree related to allowing newborns and residents to participate in local championships, so that we can finally succeed in drawing up a list of 12 players, work will be done Refine their talent and pick the best to support the national teams.
12
Players born in the country and staying on the golf association radar