UAE coach calls for review of Olympic developmental plan

Dubai: Chris Vallender, head coach of the UAE national golf team, has said the dream of Olympic qualification by 2016 or 2020 is unrealistic under the existing development structure.

In light of the National Olympic Committee's recent recognition of UAE golf, buoyed by victories at the Arab Games and GCC Championships, UAE players and officials came out in support of the nation's ability to qualify for upcoming Games.

But Vallender has called for a reassessment of expectations. Speaking to Gulf News, Vallender said: "Olympic golf is for professional players only, of which the UAE currently has none. If the competition is made up of teams of three, the top 20 nations in world golf will compete, but if it's teams of two the top 30 teams will progress.

"In order to make the 2016 or 2020 Olympics we would need to get a professional — if not two - into the top 160 in the world rankings inside four years."

In order to meet this goal, Vallender said there were a range of areas in need of improvement, including filling in the developmental gaps between the scratch handicap Mena Tour and basic youth levels, as well as increasing the desire for players to turn professional in the first place.

Scheduling clash

On top of this, Vallender questioned the Mena Tour's scheduling clash with national team events, which prevents UAE players from benefiting from the exposure.

At present there are 100 Emiratis from ages eight to 17 taking part in the Emirates Golf Federation's junior development scheme, of which four make a newly-formed junior national side currently playing at handicaps of 20-24. Nationwide, 2,400 juniors of all nationalities are involved in separate club competitions.

But Vallender said: "We need to bring back regular leagues at every age level from under-12, 12-to-15 and 16-to-18 to fill a void in competitive development to get players up to scratch. The issue for this is time allocation at weekends to allow kids to play regularly at clubs.

"Clubs are businesses and must pander to their members and understandably they favour adult fees. The challenge is to provide affordable green fees for kids but bridge the gap with the cost clubs demand with sponsorship."

Sponsors, Vallender admitted, might not feel they were getting maximum exposure out of children's golf and that the agreement would be more goodwill marketing for the brand. However, if their input were to result in getting two players into a future Olympics, it would be a different story.