Playing football down under

Studying abroad not only has its challenges, but often offers a few perks. One of them is the opportunity to represent one’s country abroad at an international level. This is what Emirati Khalid Al Hamed is doing in Australia even while completing his civil engineering programme at the University of Ballarat, Melbourne.
Having lived in the country since 2006, he totally adores it and recommends it to other UAE students.
With the lack of a UAE community on campus, Al Hamed feels a sense of affinity towards Arab, and the larger Islamic community.
Football is extremely popular among the 50 Arab students who make up the Arab community. And as Al Hamed emphasises, even though the sport can be addictive, he and his group make sure they never let it come in the way of their studies. Accordingly, they have organised a weekend timetable for matches.

The team
Al Hamed’s team consists of Fahim Al Za’abi and Obaid Al Mansoori, students of human resources management; Saeed Al Muharrami, who is studying for a masters in civil engineering; Ahmad Al Harbi and Ahmad Al Junibi, both studying civil engineering at Swinburne University.
According to Al Hamed, the language barrier prevents them from being as proactive as they would like to in hosting football events.
Currently, alongside football Al Hamed and his team are trying to foster a sense of community among Middle Eastern students and believe more cultural activities need to be organised to bring students together.