Effat holds girls’ sporting competition for universities, schools
JEDDAH: Princess Lolowah bint Faisal and Lina Al-Maeena, founder of the Kingdom’s first female sports club, were guests at a sporting competition for girls at Effat University on Sunday.
The competition was divided into three categories between four private schools and two universities, including Effat University, under the theme “Champion of the Day.”
The sports categories were running, basketball and swimming.
Princess Lolowah, deputy chairman of the board of trustees and general supervisor of Effat University, is considered one of the most publicly visible female members of the Saudi royal family.
She told Arab News: “I am always proud of what Saudi women do, and today I am way happier than any time because we saw how creative the participants were. We encourage all the youth — males and females — to serve their countries from the bottom of their hearts.”
Lina Al-Maeena, one of the most famous champions for women and girls’ sports in Saudi Arabia, founded the first women's sports club in Saudi Arabia, basketball team Jeddah United. She told Arab News: “There was a lot of amazing energy; I really felt involved and the future looks great. I am proud to be here in Effat. I started my words today by saying it is very symbolic that we are in a university that carries the name of Queen Effat, who was the leader behind women’s education in Saudi Arabia, and also for the sports complex that she built in the 1960s.
The competition was hosted by Hind Boumshammer, a Moroccan-French broadcaster. She is working for the MBC Group as a producer and presenter.
Noor Sahaab, a 10th grade student and a member of the winning Jeddah Private School basketball team, told Arab News: “Such a challenge is something really great and new… it is the first time for us to participate in something this big, and we are really proud to win. Even if we hadn’t won, being part of the competition is wonderful.”
Dana Al-Nahdi, from Nobles International School, told Arab News: “I think this is a really great experience for women since this country doesn’t have a lot of similar activities. It is great for women to expand beyond their limitations.”
In the running competition, Layl Bakhshab from Jeddah Private School won the gold medal, Aya Abu Al-Jadayel, also from Jeddah Private School, came second with the silver medal, while Dor Jamjoom, from Dar Al-Fikr School received the bronze medal.
In the swimming competition — schools category, Nilli Mansour was awarded the gold medal, Mayar Aziz the silver medal, and Farida Ahmed took the bronze medal, all of them are students of Al-Koon International School. In the swimming competition — university category, the gold medal was won by Ghadeer Hariri from Dar Al-Hekma University, while Ghofran Abdulrahim from Effat University won the silver medal, and Tahani Banaja from Dar Al-Hekma University won the bronze medal.
In basketball, the team that won the first place was Jeddah Private School, while Al-Marjan International School came second and Nobles International School came third.