Articles
Row row row your boat
The sport of rowing is growing in popularity among Sharjah Men's College students, writes Amelia Naidoo.
- By Amelia Naidoo
- Published: 00:34 April 20, 2008
- Image Credit: Supplied Picture
- Sharjah Men's College rowing team celebrate their second place finish at the recent fourth annual Higher Colleges of Technology Boat Race
The Sharjah Men's College (SMC) sports awards were held this month to honour the achievements of students who excelled in sports in the past year.
In what was a great celebration, students gathered in the cafeteria to congratulate the winners and tuck into a large cake. The national table tennis champions received an award and trophy for a year of impressive performance.
The team had won the Higher Education Sports Federation (HESF) National Colleges table tennis championship held in Al Ain.
"In the history of HESF, I am the only player who has been unbeaten in a table tennis tournament. When I first came to college, only I played table tennis – now we have a squad of good players," said table tennis captain Ahmad Al Obaidli.
The SMC sports team also came second in recently held volleyball championships.
UOWD's basketball team has come out tops among universities in the UAE for the last two years.
This year they won four out of five tournaments held said Ali Tharammil, basketball coach at UOWD.
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Rowing in traditional wooden boats dates back hundreds of years and has long been part of the UAE heritage. And with more rowing enthusiasts taking up the sport, universities are realising its many benefits and have added it to their sports curriculum.
A demanding sport
Rowing is a demanding sport, however, and requires a fair amount of dedication and training, said Sharjah Men's
College (SMC) rowing crew manager Mahmoud Tamim.
He said the university was trying to increase participation in the sport.
"Rowing is still popular but it needs hard work and training.
You have to be fit and it's not easy," he warned. Tamim explained that a traditional long boat requires 10 rowers with a Cox, who helps the team steer the boat, at the bow.
When the rowers are not preparing for a race they train for two hours a week, usually at the Khalid Lagoon or Ajman Creek. Their training schedule becomes gruelling before a race when they train three hours thrice a week.
Added benefits
For SMC's second year business diploma student and crew member Khalid Nasser Abdullah, participating in races is an "exciting achievement".
He said: "Rowing is absolutely (about) team work."
But the benefits of rowing make it worthwhile. "Rowing is not only about the sport. It improves management skills, teamwork, fitness and it's a social sport," said Tamim.
In fact, in just four or five training sessions a new team becomes "like one family" he said.
Gruelling race
SMC's rowing team recently won a silver medal in the fourth annual Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) Boat Race.
The event traditionally takes place in the creek at Ras Al Khaimah. Coming into the event as title holders for the previous two years, SMC was joint favourite along with the home team Ras Al Khaimah to claim the crown.
All seven HCT men's colleges entered teams in the race, a first in the event's five-year history.
After a close race over a gruelling 3.5km course, the only thing that separated the two crews was a single boat length, said Tamim.
Second time competitor
Abdullah Al Mansoury, a diploma engineering student, said: "We were looking to be the champions like last year, but second place is not bad. I hope that next year we will bring back the cup to SMC."
Dragon boat racing
SMC has also begun participating in dragon boat racing. They made an impressive debut at the first Dragon Boat Festival races held at the Dubai Festival City recently.
The SMC team was one of more than 50 teams entered in the 150 metre race held at Dubai Creek. Teams of up to 20 rowers in distinctive longboats with dragon heads made a colourful sight on the water.
Some had never rowed before but were subsequently eager to start training regularly in their own dragon boat, which the organisers donated to SMC.
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