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1st Arab Women Sports Tournament for clubs starts today
The 1 Arab Women Sports Tournament (AWST) for clubs kicks off on Thursday at Sharjah Ladies Club here.
To run until Feb. 12 the event will feature competitions in five sports namely athletics, archery, table tennis, volleyball and basketball and staged under the patronage of Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qassimi, chairperson of both the Sharjah Ladies the Supreme Council for Family Affairs and wife of the ruler of Sharjah.
Seeing action in the 11-day competition are 520 women athletes representing 16 clubs and 12 countries: Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Yemen, Tunisia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco, and host UAE.
Bahrain’s Sheikha Hayat Al Khalifa, president of the supervision committee of the Union of the Arab National Olympic Committees at the AWST and president of the Bahrain’s Women Sports Committee said, “ Sheikha Jawaher has been a great supporter of UAE and GCC countries’ women entering the field of sports and had her first initiative around 12 years ago. Now she wanted to take it further by expanding it and opening the door for all Arab women through this tournament.”
Hayat said having such tournaments will hopefully ensure clubs support and provide their women athletes with the required plan to compete with the best possible performance since the competition is strong and include a large number of countries from different continents.
Jawaher met with chairperson of the steering committee for the GCC women sports Sheikha Naeema Al Sabah of Kuwait and myself to discuss the idea last year, which thanks to the UANOC was welcomed by the members and delegations during the assembly meeting held in Doha during the 12th Arab Games 2011,” said Hayat.
This tournament according to the UANOC members has a unique feature as it is being held in the Gulf and specifically in a very conservative city such as Sharjah and with the attendance of women only except for mediamen, coaches, and referees out of respect for the city’s tradition and culture. It will be aired live though on TV.
To ensure the development, and though most of the women teams in the Arab region has only one team, Hayat said they are aiming at launching a new version of the Arab Games for youth, to be held two years before the original Arab Games to ensure we have both youth and first women national teams prepared. “It’s all about having the right strategy and this is what we are aiming at,” she said.
In addition, women sports seems to enjoy huge support this year especially after the success women delivered at the 12 Arab Games which also witnessed a higher percentage of participation. Almost 50 percent of the women that attended took home medals while only 24 percent of the men won medals.
According to Hayat, women are showing impressive performance one event after the other despite the political issues in the region.
The AWST will be held every four years according to a member of the higher organising committee and director of the tournament Nada Al-Naqbi.
Khalid Al-Hussain, AWST organising committee representative, said the event will be conducted in a professional manner and athletes to undergo drug tests as mandated by the World Anti-doping Agency.
The 1 Arab Women Sports Tournament (AWST) for clubs kicks off on Thursday at Sharjah Ladies Club here.
To run until Feb. 12 the event will feature competitions in five sports namely athletics, archery, table tennis, volleyball and basketball and staged under the patronage of Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qassimi, chairperson of both the Sharjah Ladies the Supreme Council for Family Affairs and wife of the ruler of Sharjah.
Seeing action in the 11-day competition are 520 women athletes representing 16 clubs and 12 countries: Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Yemen, Tunisia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco, and host UAE.
Bahrain’s Sheikha Hayat Al Khalifa, president of the supervision committee of the Union of the Arab National Olympic Committees at the AWST and president of the Bahrain’s Women Sports Committee said, “ Sheikha Jawaher has been a great supporter of UAE and GCC countries’ women entering the field of sports and had her first initiative around 12 years ago. Now she wanted to take it further by expanding it and opening the door for all Arab women through this tournament.”
Hayat said having such tournaments will hopefully ensure clubs support and provide their women athletes with the required plan to compete with the best possible performance since the competition is strong and include a large number of countries from different continents.
Jawaher met with chairperson of the steering committee for the GCC women sports Sheikha Naeema Al Sabah of Kuwait and myself to discuss the idea last year, which thanks to the UANOC was welcomed by the members and delegations during the assembly meeting held in Doha during the 12th Arab Games 2011,” said Hayat.
This tournament according to the UANOC members has a unique feature as it is being held in the Gulf and specifically in a very conservative city such as Sharjah and with the attendance of women only except for mediamen, coaches, and referees out of respect for the city’s tradition and culture. It will be aired live though on TV.
To ensure the development, and though most of the women teams in the Arab region has only one team, Hayat said they are aiming at launching a new version of the Arab Games for youth, to be held two years before the original Arab Games to ensure we have both youth and first women national teams prepared. “It’s all about having the right strategy and this is what we are aiming at,” she said.
In addition, women sports seems to enjoy huge support this year especially after the success women delivered at the 12 Arab Games which also witnessed a higher percentage of participation. Almost 50 percent of the women that attended took home medals while only 24 percent of the men won medals.
According to Hayat, women are showing impressive performance one event after the other despite the political issues in the region.
The AWST will be held every four years according to a member of the higher organising committee and director of the tournament Nada Al-Naqbi.
Khalid Al-Hussain, AWST organising committee representative, said the event will be conducted in a professional manner and athletes to undergo drug tests as mandated by the World Anti-doping Agency.
