As my friends know, I have never been much of a follower of organised sport, either as a player or as a spectator. It has been many decades since I watched any cricket, rugby or football.
The only sport to which I have ever really taken as a spectator is ice hockey. For several years in my teens, I was an avid follower of Brighton Tigers, based in the British town of the same name.
Memories of the excitement, the goals and, yes, the raucous catcalls at visiting teams are still with me, even if the gold-and-black jersey hand-knitted by my mother has long since been thrown away.
I tried the sport myself during a long, cold winter over half a century ago, when the rugby pitches at school were too hard to use.
I joined fellow students learning to skate on a frozen gravel pit and, utterly unsuccessfully, trying to emulate my heroes. For a while, I was hooked, until other, less strenuous interests took over.
I can, therefore, both understand and envy the passion and achievement of a young Emirati woman whom I shall nominate as my star of the week – Fatima Al Ali, a leading member of the UAE women’s ice hockey team.
Last week, Fatima, who only started playing the sport six years ago, was in Washington as a guest of the “Hockey Is for Everyone” month organised by the United States’s National Hockey League. She practised with her favourite team, the Washington Capitals, and met her favourite player, the Capitals’ captain, Alex Ovechkin.
Her visit, not surprisingly, has attracted much publicity in American sporting circles: a hijab-wearing female ice hockey player from a far-off Arab country probably best known in the United States for camels, sand and oil is pretty unusual.
Moreover, at a time when public debate in the US is focused on the topic of Arab Muslim immigrants and whether they pose a threat to national security, she offers a remarkably different, reassuring and comforting image.
As the Capitals’ coach commented: “To me, what’s great about today is you think about [the UAE], you think a lady playing hockey in [the UAE], it doesn’t sort of mix. But it’s great. You see the smiles on our players’ faces, her smile. To see what she’s doing is fantastic. She’s going to be a real role model.”
Fatima's story was covered in The National last week, so I won't repeat it all.
Suffice to say that she developed her interest in the game in 2008, while working as website administrator and photographer for the UAE men’s team. She quickly ventured onto the ice, devoting hours of practice to developing her skills and winning a place on the UAE women’s team in 2011.
A few weeks ago, her skills attracted the notice of a former Capitals player, Peter Bondra, who was in town for a training camp, and she was invited to visit Washington.
A trawl of the internet will find touching images of her tears of happiness when she was given news of her invitation, along with tickets from Etihad, and of her meeting her heroes in Washington, practising with them on the ice. The pictures are both charming and moving.
In an interview last week with American television network CBS, Fatima explained her mission to tell girls and young women how important it is to follow your dreams, to find your passion.
“Just put out a goal and keep chasing it,” she said. “Set a goal and never give up.”
We have many impressive Emirati women, in government, in business and in many other fields. How nice it is to be able to single out Fatima Al Ali from among them. She has found her goal and has chased it – scoring many goals herself on the ice. Her example is, truly, inspiring.
Peter Hellyer is a consultant specialising in the UAE’s history and culture
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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
World Cup League Two
Results
Oman beat Nepal by 18 runs
Oman beat United States by six wickets
Nepal beat United States by 35 runs
Oman beat Nepal by eight wickets
Fixtures
Tuesday, Oman v United States
Wednesday, Nepal v United States
If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
HOW TO WATCH
Facebook: TheNationalNews
Twitter: @thenationalnews
Instagram: @thenationalnews.com
TikTok: @thenationalnews
Kathryn Hawkes of House of Hawkes on being a good guest (because we’ve all had bad ones)
- Arrive with a thank you gift, or make sure you have one for your host by the time you leave.
- Offer to buy groceries, cook them a meal or take your hosts out for dinner.
- Help out around the house.
- Entertain yourself so that your hosts don’t feel that they constantly need to.
- Leave no trace of your stay – if you’ve borrowed a book, return it to where you found it.
- Offer to strip the bed before you go.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Zayed Sustainability Prize
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: BorrowMe (BorrowMe.com)
Date started: August 2021
Founder: Nour Sabri
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce / Marketplace
Size: Two employees
Funding stage: Seed investment
Initial investment: $200,000
Investors: Amr Manaa (director, PwC Middle East)
Dolittle
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Stars: Robert Downey Jr, Michael Sheen
One-and-a-half out of five stars
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
The Land between Two Rivers: Writing in an Age of Refugees
Tom Sleigh, Graywolf Press
The biog
Hobbies: Writing and running
Favourite sport: beach volleyball
Favourite holiday destinations: Turkey and Puerto Rico
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
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