DUBAI // Youngsters from the Arabian Knights Rugby Football Club only donned the club's first shirts in November, but since then they have make quite an impression. More than 270 children from three clubs turned out for the season-ending exhibition tournament at Arabian Ranches and the chairman, Neil Palmer, said his club had experienced a whirlwind few months.
"It's hard to believe that we have only been around since October," he said. "It's been hectic but we have had a great season, especially considering our kit only arrived at 630am on the morning of our first tournament in November." Adding another dimension to the Knights is the fact they are a not-for-profit club, set up under the Foresight charity, which fights hereditary sight disorders in the UAE.
"I coached the sevens, eights and nines at the Exiles for a few years and before that I'd coached kids' rugby in Hong Kong when we lived there" said Palmer, explaining the link between charity and rugby. "When they got rid of the old Exiles ground at Al Awir no one really knew what was going to happen. The Exiles called me and asked me if I would like to run the under-10s, but I decided that we would start out on our own and that would also create some more much-needed competition in junior rugby."
Palmer and his wife, Louise, who acts as treasurer, sat at home one evening and came up with the name, Arabian Knights, while James Sucden and Ioan MacRae, who had coached with Palmer at Exiles, came on board with coaching and sponsorship. "The trouble came when we wanted to set up under a trade license. It can be quite a long process and James, who has lived here for a while, knew the Foresight people and it went from there," he said.
The deal is that the Knights, who play at JESS school in Arabian Ranches, donate whatever cash they can to Foresight and play under the banner of the charity. "It works very well," said Palmer. "We get a donation of Dh250 from our members and out of that we give them kit, buy all the equipment like balls and training aides. Our coaches are all volunteers and whatever is left we donate to Foresight."
At the exhibition tournament, a preview to the Lamborghini Foresight Polo Cup on Friday, Palmer handed Foresight chairman, Katy Newitt who suffers from a sight disorder, a cheque for Dh20,000. For more information about Arabian Knights, or to sponsor the club, contact Neil Palmer on 050 5547911 or email: arabianknightsrfc@yahoo.com. @Email:stregoning@thenational.ae
