Abdullah bin Zaid Model Independent School for Boys hosted a conference on spreading athletics culture in schools, in cooperation and partnership with the Qatar Athletics Federation and the federation’s Athletics Development Centre, under the patronage of Major General Dahlan Al Hamad, president of the Asian and Qatar athletics federations and IAAF vice-president, and attended by Mohammed Salem Al Qamra Al Marri, member of the Central Municipal Council and winner of the fifth constituency in the recent elections, Abdulhakim Al Omari, board member, and Dr Jabbar Al Kaabi, technical expert. The conference aims to spread the culture of athletics through the Qatar Athletics Federation’s vision for
promoting the sport until it becomes part of Qatari society’s culture, through setting up talent-discovery and selection centres in the independent model schools under the Supreme Education Council, to identify sporting talents and outstanding students for admission to the federation’s talent centre — especially as Qatar has been awarded the honour of organising the 2019 World Championships in Doha, which requires a strategic plan and a forward-looking vision to make the most of the global event to promote and market athletics in independent schools through a series of steps from 2015 to 2019, achieving the goal of equipping students with the fundamentals of
athletics, through new, engaging and exciting methods suited to the students’ age group, drawing them into sport in general and athletics in particular in the future
A partnership between athletics and schools
Major General Dahlan Jumaan Al Hamad delivered a heartfelt speech at the opening of the conference, praising the valuable efforts of Abdullah bin Zaid Independent School, led by the esteemed headmistress Bakhita Al Nuaimi and all the school’s female teachers, for the dedication and effort they put into preparing and presenting the conference in such a wonderful form and with such a noble goal. He described school sport as the gateway to the future and an inexhaustible wellspring of talent and creative energy across all kinds of sports, strengthening the standing of our national federations alongside their educational and formative role for present and future generations and their effective contribution to the psychological
and mental development of our students. It was therefore necessary for this conference and partnership between our federation, the Supreme Council and our schools to come about, and we are delighted and greatly honoured that Abdullah bin Zaid Independent School was the first to launch our project to spread the culture of athletics, creating a framework of awareness to encourage our community to take up sport within our educational institutions, and to provide all the resources needed to translate our plans and strategy into a real harvest on the ground.
Al Qamra: sporting activity is vital for students
For his part, councillor Mohammed Salem Al Qamra, representative for the fifth constituency, said school sporting activities for students are a fundamental pillar for building nations and preserving their health, and praised the efforts of Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud School and the Qatar Athletics Federation in launching the “Spreading Athletics Culture” project in Qatari schools, wishing everyone success in translating and achieving the hoped-for goals of enriching the local community through sport
The sports conference at the school featured lectures on the value of athletics for students as the mother of sports, with a group of athletics federation experts taking part and enriching the conference through a series of valuable lectures. Dr Jabbar Rahima Al Kaabi opened by reviewing the federation’s achievements at Gulf, Arab, Asian, world and Olympic level, after which Dr Firas Faraj gave a distinguished lecture posing a simple question: “Why athletics for children at primary school age?” — Dr Firas Faraj
explained the importance of athletics in schools, highlighted the main obstacles and the need to spread its culture, describing the conference as one of the platforms for translating the federation’s vision into moving the sport forward locally. For his part, Dr Salah Al Idrissi presented a paper on the issue of why some parents are reluctant to encourage their daughters to take up athletics in schools and join the national teams.
The session was closed by Mai Al Mohammadi, board member and director of the national teams, who spoke optimistically about the future of Qatari athletics based on studies, research and statistics, through the ongoing cooperation between the federation and the Supreme Education Council, and through ambitious programmes we hope will bear fruit in encouraging girls to take up the sport.
Recognition for the Qatari athletics family
Headmistress Bakhita Al Nuaimi expressed her great happiness and pleasure that Abdullah bin Zaid School was the first to launch this comprehensive sporting and cultural project to spread athletics in our schools, stressing that sport is part of Qatar’s educational and pedagogical curriculum and that our goal has always been to build students who are physically and mentally healthy. She extended deep thanks and gratitude to the athletics family, led by Major General Al Hamad, for their support and interest in the students who are athletes
–
Al Hamad, Al Qamra and Balla honoured
At the close of the conference, headmistress Bakhita Al Nuaimi of Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud School honoured Major General Dahlan Al Hamad, president, and councillor Mohammed Salem Al Qamra Al Marri, winner of the Central Municipal Council election for the fifth constituency. The honours also included Mouza Al Badr, head of the physical education section at the Education Authority’s curriculum standards office, and our gold-medal champion Musaab Abdulrahman Balla, alongside the honouring of a group of student athletes from Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud School, in an elegant ceremony
