Family, friends and spectators flocked to Mohammed Bin Zayed Stadium on Sunday to witness impressive displays of rising football talent, teamwork and sportsmanship at the inaugural ADEK Sports Cup finals.
Following two action-packed final matches for the girls’ and boys’ teams, Brighton College were crowned girl’s champions against British School - Al Khubairat (BSAK), while International School of Choueifat – Abu Dhabi came out on top against Repton School Abu Dhabi in the boys’ final.
The matches were attended by a number of Abu Dhabi government officials and dignitaries, including Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al Khaili, Department of Community Development Chairman; Sara Musallam, ADEK Chairman; Amer Al Hammadi, ADEK Undersecretary; Homaid Al Shimmari, Deputy Group CEO and Chief Corporate & Human Capital Officer in Mubadala Investment Company; and Ali Al Hammadi, Al Jazira Chief Executive Officer.
“We have seen promising sporting talents displaying true sportsmanship,” Musallam said. “We are delighted with the success of the first ADEK Sports Cup and would like to congratulate all the participating teams who have shown great dedication throughout the qualifiers and the final stages – and of course a special mention for our first-place winners. Our thanks go to Abu Dhabi Cricket and Al Jazira Club for their support throughout the tournament, and their generous hosting of the qualifiers and finals matches respectively.
“We launched the ADEK Sports Cup to accelerate students’ return to a healthy and active lifestyle and provide a platform to instil a culture of wellbeing and inspire a continued passion of sports among upcoming talents. We are certain that such activities will have a positive impact on students’ psychological, physical, and social well-being, hence improving their academic performance. On the other hand, the enthusiasm and excitement we have seen from the schools throughout the tournament reinforces our determination to expand this initiative to other sports in future editions.”
While the inaugural edition of the ADEK Sports Cup featured more than 50 male and female teams competing across more than 100 football matches, future editions will expand into additional sports, with the goal of attracting the largest number of students to play the sports they love in a safe, fun, and friendly competition.
