Dubai: The UAE should be in a position to play at the Asian Cup for women within the next five years, according to one of the officials involved with the development of the football team.
"We have made a promising start by assembling a team and within the next five years we would like to see these girls play at least at the Asian level," Mohammad Afifi, coach for the Dubai Schools team, told Gulf News.
Relatively inexperienced, the Dubai Schools side were up against visiting Yven FC, from Sarpsborg, Norway, on Monday night. They lost 1-3, but were determined to do better when they take on the Jumeirah English School team at 3.30pm this Thursday.
"For us this is a great start and we could not have asked for anything better," Afifi said.
The Dubai Schools team is part of the Dubai Government's Princess Haya Initiative for the Development of Health, Physical Education and School Sports that was launched in 2007.
First success
The football team, consisting of children between 14 to 18 years, was assimilated at the end of 2009.
The first success for the Dubai team came earlier this year when they beat Abu Dhabi 2-1 in the final of the Women's Football Championships organised by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council.
That debut egged the inclusion of the side in the second division of the Dubai Football League being held in Jebel Ali.
"We want to see this team developing in the right way," insisted Ahmad Abdul Rahman, Project Manager, Princess Haya Initiative for the Development of Health, Physical Education and School Sports. "The project envisages the creation of a healthy lifestyle culture among our young students and our goal is to get our boys and girls out there doing some sort of physical activity," Abdul Rahman said.
Morten Nilsen, the coach for the under-14 Yven FC team, echoed the same feelings.
"This sort of activity is helping our girls stay in football and the biggest motivation for them is to pursue this sport as a career," Nilsen said.
