Rugby is now a mandatory part of physical education curriculum as the country looks to develop Emirati talent in the long-established expatriate sport.
The UAE Rugby Federation has made an agreement with the UAE Ministry of Education in the second phase of the sport’s expansion in the Emirati community.
In early January, the Ministry of Education published a rugby workbook and trained more than 400 teachers in a one-day training programme.
There are 16 rugby clubs in the UAE with more than 3,500 registered rugby players in the UAE. Rugby has a long history in the UAE, with the Sharjah Wanderers established in 1977 and the Dubai Exiles established in 1966, but it remains predominately popular among expatriates.
In recent years, there has been a push to develop Emirati talent through festivals and initiatives like the Player Pathway Programme, which brought the sport into schools in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and other emirates. The UAE Rugby federation estimates that there were about 30 Emiratis actively playing rugby five years ago. Through the Pathway programme, an estimated 9,000 children were introduced to the sport.
“Five years back almost no one in the Emirati population knew what rugby was but today if you ask any Emirati, I can guarantee that 90 per cent will know what it is and how it’s played,” said Salman Hadi, the vice chair of the UAE Rugby Federation and head of its rugby development committee.
Introducing rugby into national curriculum is the next step.
“Our first strategy was to get people to know what rugby is, what it looks like, what a rugby ball looks like, especially in the Emirati population,” said Mr Hadi. “Today we are moving into phase two, developing a population of rugby players, building their stamina and nutrition and having them play against worldwide countries that are already established.
“We want players that can win tournaments.”
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Sami Smara, the development manager of the UAE Rugby Federation, expects the number of Emirati boys and girls playing rugby to reach 200,000 in the next two years.
Bill Beaumont, the chair of World Rugby, congratulated the Ministry of Education and UAE Rugby for introducing rugby in the curriculum.
“We applaud the UAE Federation’s continued drive and approach to laying solid foundations to realise a stronger, sustainable game for the future of the sport,” he said in a statement.
Classes start this month.
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Price: base / as tested: Dh335,000
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Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
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Favourite food: Japanese
Favourite car: Lamborghini
Favourite hobby: Football
Favourite quote: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough
Favourite country: UAE
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Profile of Tamatem
Date started: March 2013
Founder: Hussam Hammo
Based: Amman, Jordan
Employees: 55
Funding: $6m
Funders: Wamda Capital, Modern Electronics (part of Al Falaisah Group) and North Base Media
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Abdul Jabar Qahraman was meeting supporters in his campaign office in the southern Afghan province of Helmand when a bomb hidden under a sofa exploded on Wednesday.
The blast in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah killed the Afghan election candidate and at least another three people, Interior Minister Wais Ahmad Barmak told reporters. Another three were wounded, while three suspects were detained, he said.
The Taliban – which controls much of Helmand and has vowed to disrupt the October 20 parliamentary elections – claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mr Qahraman was at least the 10th candidate killed so far during the campaign season, and the second from Lashkar Gah this month. Another candidate, Saleh Mohammad Asikzai, was among eight people killed in a suicide attack last week. Most of the slain candidates were murdered in targeted assassinations, including Avtar Singh Khalsa, the first Afghan Sikh to run for the lower house of the parliament.
The same week the Taliban warned candidates to withdraw from the elections. On Wednesday the group issued fresh warnings, calling on educational workers to stop schools from being used as polling centres.
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Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
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One in four Americans don't plan to retire
Nearly a quarter of Americans say they never plan to retire, according to a poll that suggests a disconnection between individuals' retirement plans and the realities of ageing in the workforce.
Experts say illness, injury, layoffs and caregiving responsibilities often force older workers to leave their jobs sooner than they'd like.
According to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research, 23 per cent of workers, including nearly two in 10 of those over 50, don't expect to stop working. Roughly another quarter of Americans say they will continue working beyond their 65th birthday.
According to government data, about one in five people 65 and older was working or actively looking for a job in June. The study surveyed 1,423 adults in February this year.
For many, money has a lot to do with the decision to keep working.
"The average retirement age that we see in the data has gone up a little bit, but it hasn't gone up that much," says Anqi Chen, assistant director of savings research at the Centre for Retirement Research at Boston College. "So people have to live in retirement much longer, and they may not have enough assets to support themselves in retirement."
When asked how financially comfortable they feel about retirement, 14 per cent of Americans under the age of 50 and 29 per cent over 50 say they feel extremely or very prepared, according to the poll. About another four in 10 older adults say they do feel somewhat prepared, while just about one-third feel unprepared.
"One of the things about thinking about never retiring is that you didn't save a whole lot of money," says Ronni Bennett, 78, who was pushed out of her job as a New York City-based website editor at 63.
She searched for work in the immediate aftermath of her layoff, a process she describes as akin to "banging my head against a wall." Finding Manhattan too expensive without a steady stream of income, she eventually moved to Portland, Maine. A few years later, she moved again, to Lake Oswego, Oregon. "Sometimes I fantasise that if I win the lottery, I'd go back to New York," says Ms Bennett.
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- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
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Name: The Concept
Founders: Yadhushan Mahendran, Maria Sobh and Muhammad Rijal
Based: Abu Dhabi
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 7
Sector: Aviation and space industry
Funding: $250,000
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Fixture: Ukraine v Portugal, Monday, 10.45pm (UAE)
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