Dubai: Gems Our Own English High School (OOEHS), Dubai were the winners for the third time in-a-row as the fourth Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD) Youth Athletics Championships concluded at the Dubai Police Officers Club on Saturday.
Champions of the last two editions in the boys’ and girls’ categories, teams from OOEHS once again dominated the annual track and field meet organized by sponsors CBD in co-ordination with the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) and under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman, DSC.
OOEHS were the outright winners in the girls’ under-14 and under-16 and boys’ under-14 categories, while taking second place in the boys’ under-11 and third positions in the boys’ under-16 and girls’ under-11.
“I feel on top of the world to see our students dominate this competition since the past few years. All credit to the school authorities and to the students for putting in the hard work and maintaining our place at the top of the overall standings,” Indu Singh, coach for the girls teams, Gems OOEHS, told Gulf News.
“This is a wonderful platform for athletes to showcase their skills and talents in track and field. We are aware that the competition is getting tougher each year, but that only motivates us to work harder and ensure we keep our position at the top,” she added.
Denying OOEHS a clean sweep in the girls’ competition was the team from Nad Al Hamar Public School as they claimed the honours in the under-11 category. In the boys’ section, the Dubai National School topped the under-16 category, while Winchester School, Jebel Ali ended supreme in the under-11 section.
“For us this is an investment for the future. We believe we have the best talent in track and field coming to the surface, thanks to such a fantastic initiative from CBD. The next step will be to identify the gifted athletes and ensure they have a future in this sport,” Saeed Hareb, General Secretary, DSC, said.
The preliminary rounds held in November last year witnessed a UAE national record in the boy’s under-16 category with Abdul Aziz Saleh from Dubai National School setting a new mark of 1.77 metres. This year’s championship attracted more than 2,000 students representing 90 schools from the government and private sectors. Individual winners and schools took home cash prizes worth more than Dh500,000. For the first time this year, the Organizing Committee has decided to hand out the cash prizes and incentives through pre–paid banking cards.
