Dubai : The Rashid School for Boys witnessed an encouraging breakthrough for local rugby last week as it played host to the first ever Arabic Schools Tag Rugby tournament.
It was the day around 80 boys from six schools had been eagerly awaiting after spending close to six months preparing to see just how far they had come in what is widely viewed as a western expatriate sport.
And the results were pretty impressive to say the least.
"We've been planning this actual tournament for about four to six months," said Bruce Morton, development manager for the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union (AGRFU).
"Rashid School and I got together and said it's time to give them some competition. So we decided some time in October last year to get it up and running," he added.
Rugby across the Gulf will soon undergo a radical change with the rise of individual associations in each nation, and clearly the AGRFU are laying the groundwork in order to get more Emiratis and Arabs involved in the game; a task that has been thrust upon the shoulders of Morton and development officer Gaith Jalajel.
"For three years, we have coached the PE teachers [of the participating schools] and a lot of them are now IRB Level One accredited. Gaith and I have been at the schools on and off for the past six months getting them ready for this. It takes after stage and now we have local kids running around and playing good rugby. It's a milestone," said Morton.
Al Ahmadiya School turned out to be the inaugural champions but, more significantly, for a first tournament of its kind, the level of play certainly offered the men who matter plenty of encouragement. "I'd say it was probably better than what we were expecting," said Alan Bond, PE Sports at Rashid School. "Every team has got involved, played to the rules and scored a lot of points. It seems to have worked, so hopefully we'll do this as an annual tournament," he added.
To ensure there was no language barrier and rules were properly conveyed to the youngsters aged between 10 and 11, the matches were officiated by Arab referees.
Mohammad Shaker, who plays for TOA Dubai was one of them. "They understood the rules but since they are not used to playing, at times they would pass the ball forward," Shaker said of the experience while calling on the Ministry of Education to help implement the game in more Arabic schools.
