Al Ain’s Vision is the Basis for Excellence and Competing to Win 1st Places.. Sultan Rashid: Juniors’ League schedule Should be Changed
9 players achieved impressive positive results in their training camps in European
Addressing issues related to the matches timings of U-13, 14 and 15 League, Sultan Rashid, Board Member of Al Ain Club Football Company, stated that the most problematic issue is the high degrees of temperature and humidity at the time of matches kickoff which all scheduled to start at 16:05 or 16:15. “This turn the match to a suffering not only for the players, but also for those who attend the matches, including the technical and administrative staffs and even the board members and other clubs football academies,” he stressed.
He added: “We hoped that the timings of the matches would be similar to U-16 & 18 teams. The two categories enjoy the advantage to play the first half prior the sunset prayer and the second half after the prayer. Definitely, the safety of all junior players is the top priority of the UAEFA and clubs and hope that they will reconsider the timings of the juniors’ league.”
He gave details to all the procedures taken by the concerned at Al Ain Club to lessen the impact of weather conditions including the medical checkups. He stated: “As per the club’s strategy, the doctor conducts periodical checkups and I do not mean the “routine” ones that take place prior the kickoff of the season, but those conducted during the training sessions, official and friendly matches.”
Sultan Rashid stated: “At the junior level and especially the young players, Al Ain Club does not seek to win titles but focusing on developing the players’ potentials at the technical and physical levels. Indeed, all coaches of junior teams are committed by these strategic plans and the real gains we achieve are preparing players in the right manner.” Sultan Rashid also stated that recently our great player, Issa Khalfan Zayed, has been awarded the Top Scorer of the U-15 League in 2017/ 2018 Season. “We had developed long term plans which already are approved by the senior management and receives Mr. Chairman’s elaborate attention. We seek through the implementation of this strategy to qualify the quality and skilled players to join the first team of the Boss through direct and close cooperation and coordination between the coaches of the academy and the first team,” he said.
Commenting on a question on the academy’s preparations for the new season, he stated: “We have a well-defined goal for the academy and the adopted strategy is crystal clear for every member. We are building on the achievements of the founders of this great sport entity. Certainly, we look forward to qualify superior professional players technically, physically and mentally to join the first team and support our UAE national football team. We are working hard to have significant players who could make the difference and achieve the desired aspirations.”
He further stated that during the Summer, the academy held two preseason away training camps for the U-16 and U-18 where all the pre-set preparation programs were strictly implemented. He shed light on the details of training programs by saying: “Intensive training sessions were conducted twice a day in the morning and evening times, in addition to special muscles exercises, swimming and recovery sessions. The two teams also played strong friendly matches and we could say that players achieved the desired goals through playing against strong teams. Also, we nominated 9 players and local coaches joined Spain’s Valencia Academy for a short period of time due to the academic year and players should come back to join their schools and the preseason training camps had not started at that time. However, reports we received on our players’ performance are promising and their results were great. I can say that advantages of this experience are immeasurable.”
“The great and generous support of the Club’s management is one of the most important factors that upsurge our desire to redouble efforts this current season to achieve remarkable results,” he emphasized. He attributed the successes achieved to the unbeaten strategic plans and the continuous support of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council for all the capital’s sport clubs. He expressed his aspirations to participate in more championships, in addition to Hazza bin Zayed Junior Teams International Tournament. He also expressed his pleasure by the teams’ participation in the Arabian Gulf Cup where a great number of players participated in the club’s matches against Al Sharjah and Al Nasr which is an evidence that there is a solid foundations and brilliant strategy in place which is founded by this great sport entity over the years. He availed the opportunity to hail the efforts exerted by H.E. Ghanem Al Hajeri and H.E. Mohammed Obeid Hammad and the vision and determination of the head coach of the first team, Zoran Mamic.
Responding to a question on appointing Croatian coaches at Al Ain Academy, he stated: “Yes, indeed! We have contracted with a team of Croatian coaches to be in charge of U-18 Team considering the fact we need to keep a close cooperation with the technical staff of the first team under the command of Zoran Mamic. This plan started by appointing a team of Croatian coaches for the Reserved Team.” He stated that there are weekly and bimonthly meetings between coaches and a continuous follow up of all technical details and issues to achieve the desires goals in the coming period. He underlined that all these arrangements are taken to be the leading club in all aspects that help the club to develop in the future and be able to clinch titles and hold top rankings in all competitions.
