ABU DHABI // The young players sported football strips of all colours, each shirt embroidered with the crest of their local high-school. The green kits belonging to the American Community School (ACS) of Abu Dhabi displayed surnames on their backs.
The "soccer moms" sat proudly on the sidelines of Cramer Field, while the dads, having stood screaming during play, threw their arms around their children on the final whistle.
Congratulations and commiseration arrived in equal measure.
"It's very much an American system," said Kevin Brawn, the head of athletics at ACS and one of the organisers of last weekend's junior varsity Middle East and South Asia Conference football championships. "We try to make it special for the children and they then get excited about it."
The competition included four schools - two from Abu Dhabi, one from Dubai and one from Doha. A school from Cairo withdrew when Egypt started to experience political unrest.
Each game was preceded by the players' names being read out to cheers over the public address system. During the match, the action was often drowned out by friends and fans singing songs from the bleachers.
The United States is undoubtedly the benchmark when it comes to varsity sports, with highly-popular high school programmes. At the college level, games regularly selling out at stadiums of 70,000 seats or more.
Here, schools experience the best of both worlds, Brawn said - American enthusiasm mixed with international interest.
"All the schools have quite a few South American children, so we end up with a mixture of them, Canadian, American, South African and Middle Eastern," Brawn said. "That's unique to the soccer here because while we have North American sports and European sports, soccer is very much international."
Last weekend's tournament involved eight teams - four boys' and four girls' teams - and saw 34 different nationalities represented, including countries as far apart as El Salvador and South Korea. Of the 120 children, three cited the UAE as their home country.
"We don't have a lot of Emiratis in our high school," Brawn said. "I would say the percentage of kids we have on our soccer team is indicative of the percentage of Emiratis in our high school."
Ahmed al Sayegh, an Emirati father watching his daughter Alyazia from a seat near the touchline, said he believed sport to be "just as important as the academic side of things".
"It is an American school, so there is always going to be internationals here, it is to be expected," he said. "There are many dangers in society and, as a teenager, the camaraderie they are subject to through sport helps then negotiate these issues. When we chose ACS, it was mainly for the quality of education offered, but also the best school academically tends to have a variety of extra-curricular activities too."
ACS will host a basketball championships in two weeks and its students will compete in a tennis event in Dubai later this month. With Cairo American Community School being forced to withdraw from hosting the cross-country championships because of the trouble in the Egyptian capital, ACS has offered to host the first day of the competition at Yas Marina Circuit, and second day's action at Hatta Fort.
As the referee blew the final whistle at the tournament last weekend, an ACS coach - red in the face from screaming instructions - provided one final order: go shake hands with your opponent. Not that the young boys needed telling: most of them, clad in their green shirts with their names on the back, were already on their way.
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
THE CARD
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2.30pm: Handicap Dh 76,000 (D) 1,400m
3pm: Handicap Dh 64,000 (D) 1,200m
3.30pm: Shadwell Farm Conditions Dh 100,000 (D) 1,000m
4pm: Maiden Dh 60,000 (D) 1,000m
4.30pm: Handicap 64,000 (D) 1,950m
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
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What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
Temple numbers
Expected completion: 2022
Height: 24 meters
Ground floor banquet hall: 370 square metres to accommodate about 750 people
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First floor main Prayer Hall: 465 square metres to hold 1,500 people at a time
First floor terrace areas: 2,30 square metres
Temple will be spread over 6,900 square metres
Structure includes two basements, ground and first floor
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Engine: Duel electric motors
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Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
