https://arab.news/46t4b
- Championships for schools and Gulf to be set up, says official
- Partnerships with playing nations Egypt and Oman soon
It seems that barely a week goes by without the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee adding yet another sporting federation to its rapidly expanding portfolio.
The latest sport to be given a major boost is field hockey, and leading the campaign to raise awareness about it is Mohammed Al-Mandeel, president of the Saudi Hockey Federation.
鈥淚 have (a) passion for different areas in sport so I became Saudi Hockey Federation president for many reasons,鈥� he told Arab News at a training camp set up by the body. 鈥淥ne of them is that I used to play this game when I was a student, and inshallah I鈥檓 planning to transfer my knowledge here to make it one of the more popular sports (in 黑料社区).鈥�
Al-Mandeel graduated with a degree in telecommunications engineering from Cranfield University in the UK, and assumed his role as head of the federation at the start of 2020, though official affiliation to the Asian Hockey Federation did not come until 2021.
鈥淔ield hockey is one of the biggest, oldest historical sports in the world, and also a major Olympic sport,鈥� he said, before highlighting its history including that 4000-year-old inscriptions from ancient Egypt seem to depict a sport similar to hockey.
鈥淲hen you have a new thing in society there will be resistance, so part of our strategy is to raise awareness, to let people know about this sport,鈥� he said. 鈥淔ootball, basketball and volleyball all have an established audience, but hockey is considered a new challenge, and for people who like to try something new our federation is setting up new training programs for beginners who want to try this sport.鈥�
It is not only in Europe and Southeast Asia that hockey is popular, it already has a following in several Middle Eastern countries.
鈥淭he top Arab country in this sport is Egypt while in the Gulf it鈥檚 Oman. They have a lot of good players, and we already have partnerships with them to have their knowledge transferred here to Saudi,鈥� Al-Mandeel said.
A strategy to raise the profile of the game is already in place.
鈥淲e have different channels (to promote hockey),鈥� said Al-Mandeel. 鈥淚n digital media, we have Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and we have our official website. And through small pop-up events, we are spreading new ideas to the people.鈥�
The federation鈥檚 website is already open for people wishing to register for training programs. Al-Mandeel鈥檚 long-term ambitions are far more lofty.
鈥淢y (aim) is to have a Saudi team in the top three in the Olympics,鈥� he said.
A member of the federation鈥檚 board of directors, Abdullah Sulaiman Al-Sayari, laid out the strategy to attract youngsters to hockey in a country were three or four major sports attract most of the attention.
鈥淲e made a plan to reach out to schools (by) nominating three schools in Riyadh, three in Jeddah and three in the Eastern region, and started working with them to transform these schools into hockey academies for their students or other children in the area,鈥� said Al-Sayari.
鈥淪o far we are working with Al-Arkam Schools in Riyadh, with a huge number of students. We want to invest in kids, as it鈥檚 a new game and it鈥檚 hard to attract new players as they have other hobbies an interests in different sports,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut we are allowing them to attend training sessions of some big clubs to let them know that they can reach their level and compete.鈥�
Al-Sayari was also keen to highlight the support of the government in promoting the sport.
鈥淲e faced a lot of challenges in this sport, such as the availability of suitable playgrounds, availability of suitable tools, and coaches (and) referees,鈥� he said. 鈥淭o be honest, the number is too small but we are currently working on that. We are also working on many championships, especially at school level, which will have one very soon.鈥�
Al-Sayari also revealed that the federation is working on establishing a Gulf region championship in December 2022, having already reached out to willing neighboring countries. They are currently working on a location and budget, he said.
But growing the game and increasing the number of participants is a long-term project with plenty of challenges for Al-Sayari and his colleagues.
鈥淲e are trying our best to overcome these obstacles,鈥� he said. 鈥淗owever, taking into consideration that the federation is new and hasn鈥檛 even completed one year yet, we have established five championships in which four to five teams have participated from different regions in the Kingdom.鈥�
鈥淭he game has started to grow, and we also have a female team now and we are working on expanding it,鈥� Al-Sayari added. 鈥淎s for the men鈥檚 teams, we have already reached the maximum number of players we planned for, but the challenge here is finding suitable coaches to support coach Ahmed Abdo (technical director of the federation).鈥�
鈥淐urrently we have four other assistant coaches who are being trained and also working on training some teachers in the schools to become coaches in the future. We are trying our best to overcome all of these obstacles and hoping by the end of this year to reach at least 40 to 50 percent of our plan.鈥�
Participation is coming from unexpected sources.
Adwa Al-Hunaidi and her daughter Meshael have been taking part in the sessions since they discovered they were open to females.
鈥淢eshael initiated the idea of joining the field hockey program because she was the one who was interested,鈥� said Adwa.
鈥淭o start with, what we had in mind when we first came was to enroll my son Yousef, that鈥檚 when we found out that girls can join too. And the coach made it clear to us that mothers (and) adults can join too,鈥� said Adwa.
She said they were really 鈥渆xcited鈥� and now all three of them have joined up. 鈥淲e really loved the idea since we have always been fond of sports.鈥�