The UAE decided earlier this year "to introduce School Olympics throughout the country," according to Alaric Gomes of the GULF NEWS. The national project, to be run by the Ministry of Education, UAE Inter-School Sports Association and UAE National Olympic Committee, is scheduled to take off this upcoming academic year. The Schools Olympics project "will involve five sporting disciplines," including swimming, shooting and gymnastics. Humaid Mohammad Obaid Al Qutami, Minister of Education said that the Games should launch as early as September. The plan details that students between ages eight to 15 in government schools will participate in compulsory Olympics-style competitions to find and nurture future Olympic champions. General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare Secretary General Ebrahim Abdul Malek said, “Attending the recent London Olympics has shown us what we are falling in our system. We have the talent and we just need to identify it and tap it so that they can compete at the international level and bring in the medals" (GULF NEWS, 8/21).
