The playgrounds and halls of public education schools in 47 cities and governorates in the Kingdom are crowded daily with hundreds of players from school teams participating in the public championship qualifiers of the Schools League, which is being implemented by the Ministry of Sports in cooperation with the Ministry of Education for the fourth year of football for boys, and for the first year of various games for boys.
1,500 football, volleyball and basketball games are held daily, according to an administrative and technical organization from the Schools League Project Administration, with the support and field follow-up of directors and representatives of education departments.
In the capital, Riyadh, the indoor sports hall in the King Saud Educational Complex is witnessing exciting competitions in the volleyball and basketball games, amid follow-up by the scouts of Al-Hilal, Al-Nasr and Al-Shabab clubs to determine the levels and capabilities of the school league players.
The educational supervisor, technical coordinator for Riyadh education, Khaled Al-Habib, said: “This championship, especially in the volleyball and basketball games, provided an elite group of emerging talents in the two games and in one place, and sports clubs in general negotiated 30% of the players of the participating school teams, due to the clubs’ desire to strengthen their ranks with emerging talents and develop These two games are for competition in Saudi competitions.
Al-Habib stressed that the current version of the Schools Football League is highly prepared to be the best version in all respects, saying: “After the Ministry of Sports raised the award to one million riyals and the presence of other financial prizes, schools began to participate in order to achieve the title and choose the best elements, as it was motivated by organization and great interest.” and increase the prize.
He added, "In this version, we have not yet recorded more than one case of withdrawal, and all school teams participate in all categories, as the number of schools from Riyadh Education reached 598 schools, with 17,360 students representing 1,789 teams."
Al-Habib explained that «the Schools League project is one of the most supportive competitions for sports clubs in discovering talents. In the previous version, I personally stood on club negotiations for approximately 20-25% of the total players, and the clubs recorded a good number, and in this version I expect the number to increase. In this version, it is different, and everyone aims to compete, and there is no team that is present for the sake of participation only.
Al-Habib concluded, "Last season, we achieved the middle school championship title, and in this edition, we want to preserve the title of last season and achieve the secondary stage title, in addition to at least the game in the rest of the games."
In Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, the school league competitions in football, volleyball and basketball are witnessing large participations from school teams from Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah education. Sports in schools to contribute again to the discovery of talents, and he said: "I am happy with what I saw of the great participation of school teams, and the most important thing is to organize a school league in a good administrative and technical manner that contributes to the establishment of competitive matches in which all students participate, in order for them to be able to highlight their talents," adding “Here are the Madinah schools, everyone is racing to present their talents in all games, and the basketball competitions are exciting and full of good elements that need more training and refinement in sports clubs. We thank the Ministry of Sports for this vital and important project.”
In the Tabuk region, which also witnesses large participations from school teams, many parents of the participating players are keen daily to follow the competitions, as Dakhil Allah Muhammad Al-Hwaiti said about the Schools League: “My impression of the Schools League is very wonderful, and we thank the Ministries of Sports and Education for this A partnership that aims to discover the talents of our students in schools.” Salem Al-Atwi said: “The Schools League project is a great and pioneering idea. Physical education teachers in the primary stage, in particular, have the greatest role in developing and discovering talents through physical education classes and the indoor school leagues.”
While the coordinator of the Student Activity Department in Tabuk, Turki Al-Zahrani, said: “The schools league aims to develop all games, including football, basketball and volleyball, and to discover and develop talents and then highlight them and sponsor them by sending them to external camps, and this will contribute greatly to building a solid base.” Talent for Saudi sports.
For his part, football referee Hussein Al-Balawi said: “We thank the Ministries of Sports and Education for the championship that develops student talents in schools under an official umbrella aimed at serving Saudi clubs and teams, and we may also see some of them who did not find the opportunity in any game heading to the field of arbitration.” While the physical education teacher, Khaled Al-Shehri, said: "Many talents were discovered, and every year we present to the region's sport one or two players only, and today the fans of basketball and volleyball had the opportunity to show their talents in these two games."
Amal Al-Saeed (Riyadh) @amal222424
