DUBAI Two MPAC Sports hoopsters in the UAE earned the reward of their lives after securing full basketball scholarships in the US that will allow them to train professionally while pursuing their education.
Ahmad Ismail and Hasan Ahmad Elsayed, both 19 years old, have been selected for full National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball scholarships at the Colby College in the USA.
It’s a big achievement on part of MPAC Sports who have played a huge role in successfully securing them the scholarships. They become the first two players from the Academy to have achieved this feat.
The two have already reached the US and have begun their classes couple of weeks ago.
“We are thrilled and extremely proud of their achievements,” said Ahmad I Elzahdan, chief operating officer of MPAC Sports.
“It’s a big achievement for us since we have managed to secure them full scholarships, having seen them progress from the beginners’ level to the professional level,” said Elzahdan.
Going professional
The scholarship means the boys will not have to spend a penny from their pockets during their four years stay in the college.
“I’m really excited to have earned the prestigious scholarship. It’s going to be a great journey for me and an important step in my life,” an excited Elsayed told XPRESS from the US.
Elsayed, who dreams of playing in the NBA in the future, added: “I worked hard for this. I’m thankful to MPAC who helped me a lot to get this scholarship. Before arriving here for the programme in Colby, I worked all by myself in Egypt. Now my goal is to play at the professional level and also keep my options open to earn a berth in the Euro league and make a career out of it,” he said.
Elzahdan believes that the interest among parents has increased after this development and they are keen to introduce their kids to this sport. “We have seen a rise among kids taking interest in this sport. These two have saved a big chunk of money from their student fees by earning this scholarship and also making a career out of basketball. So this should further inspire many to take it up seriously in the future.
“We are also looking to get more kids into the high schools level and NCAA in the US in the next two months and early next year. This was our focus when we began as an academy here in the UAE and we are happy that we are heading in the right direction.”
