Tim March, left, the general manager of the Sharjah Football Club, puts students through their paces as part of a new health and fitness programme.
Tim March, left, the general manager of the Sharjah Football Club, puts students through their paces as part of a new health and fitness programme.

Sharjah FC schools students on health



SHARJAH // Abdulrahman al Ali has lost 25 kilograms over the past year since he started spending 10 hours a week running, swimming and playing football. Now, the 22-year-old Sharjah Men's College student has an unexpected new partner to help him get more fit: the Sharjah Football Club.

Mr al Ali is one of 60 business and IT students from the college taking part in a new partnership between the college and the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) and the football club to improve their health. The programme is based on a similar one in the UK called Creating Chances, which gets Premier League football clubs involved in communities. Mr al Ali, who once weighed 110kg, says he will need the extra help.

"I can't cut out junk food and fizzy drink though," he said. "I've grown up on this so it's very hard. It's an addiction. It's the lifestyle here and around the world, not just the UAE." The general manager of Sharjah FC, Tim March, said the programme was only the first stage in a wider effort by the club to become involved in the lives of young people and their communities. "It's part of a bigger picture initiative to get closer to the schools and colleges," he said.

"Community and sports is commonplace in the UK, but none of the clubs here do it. We're trying to be a role model for the other clubs, saying we do need to work with schools, colleges, the whole community." Under the programme, the Sharjah Men's College students will have to attend two hours of health and wellness classes, in which they will learn about diet, how the bodywork and widespread health problems such as diabetes and obesity, and two hours of physical education a week.

The students will be divided into three groups based on their fitness levels, then directed towards suitable sports, from low-impact walking to football, if they wish to take part. Mr March will lead some of the students in weekly football coaching sessions. But most importantly, all the students will get "the opportunity to exercise", said Aart Leeuwenburgh, head of year one at the college. "They are giving us great access to experts we would not otherwise have had," Mr Leeuwenburgh said.

"We want the students to not see this as a course which they'll leave behind when it's finished, but something they will continue to realise is important in their lives." On the first day of the course last week, the students measured their body mass index and blood pressure, which will help them track their progress. Mr Leeuwenburgh said he hoped such programmes would take root across the Emirates, and, indeed, other fitness programmes are afoot across the country.

HCT began offering physical education to students at Dubai Women's College (DWC) two years ago using staff from the health sciences and physical education faculties. It is now compulsory at the school, as well as at Al Ain and Abu Dhabi Men's Colleges. Donna Behl, a programme chair for year one from DWC, said the fitness project was not popular when it started. However, 1,200 students now use the facilities each week, with many graduates even becoming members of the sports club.

"It's been gradual, but now it's becoming a way of life for the students," she said. Sharjah Women's College is also launching a fitness programme this month for 150 students. Sharjah FC recently offered its 7,000-capacity stadium free to local schools for sports days, to encourage them to participate in athletics by giving them access to the club's facilities, including football fields and a 400-metre running track.

Our Own English High School and the GEMS Academy have taken advantage of the offer "As a club, we are supporting education and health together, trying to encourage the students to take responsibility for their own health, but to encourage them to engage at the same time," Mr March said. mswan@thenational.ae

RESULTS

Women:

55kg brown-black belt: Amal Amjahid (BEL) bt Amanda Monteiro (BRA) via choke
62kg brown-black belt: Bianca Basilio (BRA) bt Ffion Davies (GBR) via referee’s decision (0-0, 2-2 adv)
70kg brown-black belt: Ana Carolina Vieira (BRA) bt Jessica Swanson (USA), 9-0
90kg brown-black belt: Angelica Galvao (USA) bt Marta Szarecka (POL) 8-2

Men:

62kg black belt: Joao Miyao (BRA) bt Wan Ki-chae (KOR), 7-2
69kg black belt: Paulo Miyao (BRA) bt Gianni Grippo (USA), 2-2 (1-0 adv)
77kg black belt: Espen Mathiesen (NOR) bt Jake Mackenzie (CAN)
85kg black belt: Isaque Braz (BRA) bt Faisal Al Ketbi (UAE), 2-0
94kg black belt: Felipe Pena (BRA) bt Adam Wardzinski (POL), 4-0
110kg black belt final: Erberth Santos (BRA) bt Lucio Rodrigues (GBR) via rear naked choke

Other workplace saving schemes
  • The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
  • Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
  • National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
  • In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
  • Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Checks continue

A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.

Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.

The specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo

Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic

Power: 242bhp

Torque: 370Nm

Price: Dh136,814

Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5