Throughout the five years I’ve been covering sport in the UAE, I have encountered more or less the same Emirati athletes in tennis, swimming, cycling, track and field, and several other individual disciplines.
In tennis, two of the main three players leading the country’s national side in Davis Cup are in their mid-30s and the trio have been virtually carrying the sport alone for more than a decade.
They are usually supported by two or three younger players who are either inexperienced or not consistent enough to replace either of the team veterans.
A quick search in the ITF world junior rankings (for players aged 13 to 18) reveals just three Emirati boys and zero girls own a ranking – the highest being 712.
Despite there being three major tennis events staged each year in the UAE, one which started 24 years ago, there has been no real surge in local participation in the sport that would produce promising juniors.
The handful of active players describe how the Emirati participation pool is so small due to lack of interest, which explains why the country has not produced a high-ranked tennis champion despite the availability of good facilities, favourable weather, decent coaches, and the exposure to some of the world’s top stars at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and Mubadala World Tennis Championship each year.
The Dubai Sports Council invited a group of journalists earlier this week and asked us to share their ideas and thoughts on the current state of sport in the country and problems hindering growth and progress in the industry.
The move was done in preparation for the DSC’s Sports Innovation Lab – to be held on May 4 – where members of the society, decision makers, experts, representatives from foreign sports federations and Olympic committees will all convene at Meydan Hotel in Dubai to share know-how and ideas to help advance UAE sport within six main themes: Events and sports tourism, Women and sports, Future sports, Happiness, health and society, Creating and developing champions, and Sports infrastructure.
A lot of these topics tie into each other. The more women participate in sport, the more mothers teach their children to follow suit, the healthier the society becomes. The larger the participation pool is, the more likely an exceptional talent can arise, which could lead to that person becoming a champion. Without the infrastructure, none of the above can be achieved.
Using tennis as just one example, a few important actions can help start the process of developing the next Emirati champion.
► It is crucial to introduce kids to sport when they are very young. By targeting parents and schools, through development programmes, school leagues and teacher training courses, more children can get acquainted with the sport. The Mubadala Tennis in Schools programme is one example of a promising initiative, but the government and UAE tennis federation, Tennis Emirates, can do more.
► For all the tennis facilities available in the UAE, not one of them is a national tennis centre at the disposal of the federation and its players, who often complain that they isn’t enough access to courts that are not run by a private academy or club. Once the federation has a hub where local players can turn up, train and play, more and more will be encouraged to take part.
► There is no alternative to good coaching and it comes hand in hand with the development of a national tennis centre. Once a centre is set up, the federation can recruit proper coaches to develop talent.
► Kids look up to role models and while there might not be too many in particular sports here, it’s important to capitalise on the ones that do exist, and get them to take part in awareness campaigns and clinics. We can also reach out to champions in the Arab world to mix with the kids and share their experiences.
► Staging tournaments that local players can regularly compete in is imperative. There are very few ITF junior and pro circuit events in the UAE which means a local player is often forced to travel abroad – something that is not an easy option for many, whether for financial reasons, or for school commitments.
