UAE Rugby reaping fruits of Shaheen development model

The fledgling UAE Rugby Federation (UAERF) is reaping the rewards of hard work to lay a solid foundation to attract Emiratis to the sport resulting in eight schools competing for the UAE National Schools Trophy for the first time last weekend at the Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens.

"We are grateful to Emirates and HSBC for sharing with us the vision that we have to broaden the base of local Emirati players. We are happy to have a tournament dedicated to the school kids. This is where the efforts that have been put by the UAERF board is reaping the fruits of hard work," said Mohammed Falaknaz, Chairman of the UAERF.

"All this time we were dreaming about having grassroots level rugby in this country and now it's become a reality. The kids themselves are positive and dedicated. I can sense the energy that they have. At the end of the road, they have one aim and one goal: to represent this beautiful country at one point of time on the bigger arena which they will be participating as the UAE national team," said Falaknaz said with pride referring to the HSBC Sevens World Series.

The UAE national team took part in the International Invitation segment at the Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens.

Earlier this year, the UAERF took a landmark decision to field only Emirati players at the Asian Sevens Series with the Asian Games and Olympic qualification in mind.

"Finally it is apparent that this is the direction we are going to. At end of the day, we are here to invest in the game itself and at the same time we need to promote the game at local Emirati level. Kids have been given a chance to participate in a very respectable tournament. It is a big positive step for them. They can build their own self-esteem and confidence little by little," said Falaknaz as he watched the schoolboys competing at The Sevens.

STS Al Ain Wolves won the inaugural Emirates National Schools Trophy defeating VDEC 33-5 in the final.

Irrespective of results at international level where the UAE National team were twice Shield runners-up at the Asian Sevens Series, the UAERF is pursuing its ambitious goal of having 5,000 Emirati kids playing rugby in schools.

"We are going to start on a solid foundation. Slowly but surely they will continue the progress and one day will be representing the country at bigger level," he said explaining that it was same with Shaheen.

"At the beginning we inherited the team that represented this country. We adhered a system called top- bottom. We started with 15s, and then we got to the bottom until we got the grassroots. Then we needed something to feed Shaheen. We are achieving results with Shaheen," he said of the Shaheen which lost in the Bowl final at the Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens.

"Shaheen is a model that we are going about thanks to Emirates and HSBC. We appreciate their support and it is everybody's duty to give something back to the community. Everybody is doing something with its own interest at heart. At the end of the day, we are also on the same page. We want this thing to go forward and advance. This is the best thing you can give kids - interaction and exposure for them to become better and to understand themselves. To have the capability of doing something they might not have discovered until they go there on the pitch and play as much games as they can to discover themselves to become good at it," he said when asked whether the UAE National Schools trophy would be an annual event in the Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens.

Asked whether he was happy with the progress achieved so far and their future goals, he said: "We've come a long way since we started (in February 2009). For a change you are seeing Emirati teams and players. That did not come out of blue. It came with hard work and planning. We could not implement it at the very beginning. We had the administrative side of federation to take care of. The formalities that we needed to acquire like membership, getting our seat in IRB (International Rugby Board) and ARFU (Asian Rugby Football Union)."

He explained that as per constitution of sports authority in UAE, going from association to federation in this country normally takes two Olympic cycles, meaning eight years.

"We did it in less than four years. That says a lot. The IRB membership again we did in record time. Since 1886 when IRB was formed, no nation has gained this membership in such a short period. If you look at that itself, sends a very strong message across that the UAE Rugby Federation is doing a marvellous job in reaching targets and milestones in record time," he said.

"On the practical side where you could gauge this is where you can see players. We started with 15s,  introduced the Shaheen and now we have grassroots level. We have the HSBC Player Pathway Programme where we are introducing Emirati players. Currently we have 3,000 school kids practicing rugby at least twice a week nationwide," he said.

"All of this requires a big team to manage. With the limited resources, we have reached this far. Once we introduce more schools, we are going to have more staff within the system itself so that we can cover seven emirates," he added.

Asked what challenges UAERF faces, he said: "The next step is to introduce the UAE inter-school tournament nationwide. Also to retain the seeds that we plant because after 12th grade they travel abroad when they enter College. We have convinced the parents to allow them to play and let them make their own decision. Because of that we have introduced rugby at the College level also."

Falaknaz is leaving no stone unturned to promote rugby among locals and leave a blue print which could be adhered in future.

"We are tackling at different platforms such as schools, Shaheen, main team level, men's college. We have a lot of big tasks in front of us. Insha Allah (God willing) we will achieve it little by little since we have proven that it is a working system that we have put in place. We have to start the whole process all over again with girls. In the near future you will see a big change," he said.

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