How a Man City camp is transforming lives of children in rural Abu Dhabi
Many of them had never been taught how to play football, but after a two-week camp with coaches from Manchester City Football Schools, hundreds of Al Mirfa boys showed talents that could one day turn them into professional players.
Al Mirfa, in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi, is a rural area that offered few recreational activities for boys until the Rising Stars initiative gave them a chance to take their self-taught football skills from the streets to a professional field.
The initiative, by Al Bayt Al Mitwahid Association, held three camps in rural areas of the emirate for boys aged between 8 and 16, aiming to build their fitness, communication and leadership skills.
“This could be their first step for a healthy life … some of them could even decide to make a career out of this,” said Abdullah Al Neyadi, chairman of Al Bayt Mitwahid executive committee. “So, it could be a life-changing experience and a networking opportunity. Now there is so much destruction in society, it is a good opportunity for them to do something different. Kids these days are very distracted, but when they come here they are all equal so they leave their ego behind,” he said.
The camps always coincide with school holidays. “During holidays, children here have nowhere to go other than this club, there is nothing else to entertain them,” said Eissa Al Hammadi, manager of the club in Al Mirfa.
“This area is rural, not like the cities, so the kids have nowhere to go,” he said.
Previously, the club could accept only Emiratis and sons of Emirati women, but a presidential decree last year allowed them to also accept expats who were born in the UAE.
“Now we have opened the door to everyone, it is not possible to differentiate between children based on nationality, they wouldn’t understand.”
During the camp, the boys learnt in skill zones and rondos or group drills. They visualised moves by their favourite players and put them into action.
“They were really motivated and they recognised the players and picture the move, so it was a really powerful tool,” said Chris McCarthy, development squad co-ordinator at Manchester City Football Schools who, during the two weeks, got to see 225 players.
He said he was surprised by the children’s knowledge of Manchester City, “they knew every player”.
As the camp concluded on Thursday, the boys were excited about the sheets they received featuring Manchester City players, with their signatures on the back. “I will frame it and hang it on the wall,” said Ahmad Waleed, a Grade 12 pupil from Egypt.
He said that the highlight of the camp was learning to play with self-confidence and to manoeuvre and make passes.
“I used to get nervous while playing, so I wasn’t able to pass the ball to my team players, but now I can do that. I will take what I learnt and try to apply it, and add to it skills from the internet.”
He said he never had the chance to be coached before: “I only used to play with my friends in the street.”
To ensure the camp has sustainable results, five coaches from Al Dhafra Football Club attended the sessions in order to apply the same techniques.
“We will make sure that this initiative has a long-lasting effect in the hands of Al Dhafra Football Club,” said Mr Al Neyadi.
“Our coaches worked with them and learnt from their experience,” Mr Al Hammadi said.