The Dubai Schools Football Cup (DSFC), a community based tournament that brought together over 2,000 school children from all over Dubai, concluded yesterday after a marathon 8-week run that saw some of the best youth matches every played in the Emirate.
The winners in the various categories took home the gold and their tickets to England, after winning the Cup finals yesterday, and will be traveling to Old Trafford next month courtesy of Chevrolet, to watch Manchester United in a Premier League match and attend a football clinic conducted by Manchester United coaches courtesy of Emirates NBD.
DSFC Director, Michel Salgado said: “We’ve seen some terrific raw talent and some excellent skills at Dubai Schools Football Cup over the past eight weeks. There are definitely a few leaders among the children we’ve watched. Above all, we have enjoyed watching children learning and practicing healthy competition. Football is so much more than the game, a ball, and a set of rules. It is a training ground for life and was wonderful to see so many people enjoy it.”
The tournament has truly been an inspiration for the youth – an opportunity that most of us did not have while growing up in Dubai. And it is good to know that the drive is heading in a positive direction as a Memorandum of Understanding between the organizers was signed, in response to the huge success of the inaugural edition of the Cup. Based on the overwhelming requests received from schools all around Dubai, the Cup is now confirmed as a key annual event on Dubai’s youth sports calendar.
Hussein Murad, Dubai Schools Football Cup President and CEO of Inspiratus said, “The DSFC has far exceeded our expectations. We set out to bring the Dubai youth community together and help nurture in them qualities that are key to their development, namely leadership, humility, collaboration and adaptability. What we did not expect is that the DSFC has become the new home of Dubai’s youth football enthusiasts! We thank the Dubai Sports Council for their partnership and our sponsors Chevrolet and Emirates NBD for making the youth’s dream come true.”
Good times ahead for the coming generation indeed.
