DUBAI After having tasted success at the international level for the first time, UAE-based Top Sports Coaching/RU-Active is working on all possibilities to allow the girls to represent the UAE in future international assignments.
“We need to keep the momentum going and act quickly to gain formal accreditation and recognition from the National Olympic Committee so that the team will be allowed to represent their adopted country and help the UAE gain a ranking in the fastest growing female sport in the world,” said director and head coach Susanne Skelding.
Set sights
“We have our sights set on the Youth Games in Hong Kong later in 2015 and hope to have official status as the UAE team by then,” she added.
The Top Sports Coaching under-17 netball team put on a brilliant show in the Netball Europe Championship in England to win the Development Section of the tournament. “This was a very first international experience not just for the players and Top Sports Coaching/RU-Active but also for the UAE. Netball has always been a sport played in school here and now we have a player pathway for our talented players to showcase their skills on a global scale,” she said.
“Since they were newcomers all eyes were on them. Every player performed at the highest level and as a coach I could to have asked for anything more from them. We were proud of our centre court player Georgia Gibson who was unanimously voted Player of the development tournament,” she added.
Olivia Jones, skipper of the team said: “We had no benchmark on where our playing standard fitted within European Netball but we were well prepared and confident. We came back triumphant having put UAE on the netball map with four decisive victories. The whole experience was amazing for us all.”
Top Sports Coaching has spread the game in the UAE running leagues for mini’s juniors, youth, seniors and premier adults as well as a social league. “The growth is due to the dedication of our team. We are developing sessions to encompass all ages going in to schools to ensure that children have access to these kinds of strength and conditioning activities from a young age,” Susanne said.
The top coach said there were also big plans to encourage Emirati girls to take up the sport. “At this time our team is multinational. We have spotted a few Emirati girls and are in talks to welcome them into our training programme. We have a good relationship with all schools and have run taster sessions in Emirati schools. This is definitely in our plans to expand the sport in the years to come.”
