Sharjah 24: Sharjah Capability Development, an affiliate of Rubu’ Qarn Foundation for Creating Future Leaders and Innovators, in cooperation with Sharjah Women’s Sports, have launched the Sports Leadership Programme on the 10th of May 2023, with the participation of a distinguished group of young female talents from Sharjah Women’s Sports, who will embark on a journey to develop their leadership skills until the 30th of October 2023.

The programme involves the active participation of 34 young female talents who are involved in the sports field, where the programme also focuses on the age group of 25 years old and above and is aimed at developing leadership skills in 3 specific tracks which are sports marketing and sponsorship, talent scouting and nurturing, sports admin and governance. Such skills are developed through sessions that contribute to increasing awareness of the level of challenges that female athletes face in various tracks of their sports career, and the devising of ways and means to address these challenges, in order to reach the desired solutions. In addition, the sessions also focus on spreading awareness on the multiple impacts of sports activity on all sectors of society, whether through the establishment of effective partnerships with sports councils, clubs, and federations, or by embodying the holistic concept of the sports sector, and not merely understand sports as just a competitive activity whose impact ends with the end of the competition in the arena.

During the programme sessions, distinguished young women talents from Sharjah Women's Sports highlighted insights, visions and ideas of great importance and practicality, which are derived from the reality of sports that is often an open field for the practical embodiment of thoughts of the organisation’s talents in the broad field of sports.

Also, female sports leaders have shed light on the organisation’s vision, which mainly aims at developing potential and capabilities among the organisation’s common cadres, leading to the creation of a new distinctive generation of sports leaders armed with high abilities and recognised competence in the sports management field, which is mainly based on a long-lasting experience in the field of sports.

Moreover, the programme provides a development opportunity for 20 young female leaders by equipping them with the skills that contribute to building an effective leading personality through practical steps represented in field trips that are organised by Sharjah Capability Development – Tatweer to several countries, including the Netherlands. The trips are aimed at living a practical learning experience of the arts of leadership for a period of 9 days and learning about the latest international practices in the field of leadership and management. However, the organised trips come in the interest of the sports community in Sharjah, and as part of the efforts made by Sharjah Capability Development – Tatweer since its establishment in 2005, which seeks to empower young women leaders to work on the sustainable development in the Emirate of Sharjah, and in line with the UAE’s vision of its concrete efforts towards supporting innovation in various sectors of life.

Khaled Al Nakhi, Director of Sharjah Capability Development, also emphasised on the importance of being acquainted with the best international practices, saying: “By offering young leaders the opportunity to be exposed to the best international practices, we open doors to invaluable knowledge, fresh perspectives, and innovative approaches, which enhance their management capabilities to benefit athletes, coaches and the overall sports ecosystem in Sharjah”.

Hanan Al Mahmoud, a member of the Executive Board of Sharjah Women’s Sports and Member of the Board of Trustees of Rubu’ Qarn for Creating Future Leaders and Innovators, praised the level of discussions and the exchange of ideas during the first sessions of the programme, and the level of hard work and cooperation between Sharjah Women’s Sports and Sharjah Capability Development – Tatweer, which aims to build a new generation of female sports leaders to contribute to the development of work in Sharjah’s various sports organisation.

Lastly, Hanan Al Mahmoud pointed out that the majority of female sports leaders from the staff of Sharjah Women's Sports have a vast experience, being former or current athletes, in addition to those who work in renowned sports entities, such as Sharjah Sports Council, as well as representatives of Rubu' Qarn Foundation, which makes their efforts in any of the organisation’s projects inevitable and necessary to generally improve the sports system in Sharjah.