Curtain Brought Down on School Olympic Programme

Doha, April 06 (QNA) - The curtain was brought down today on activities of the fifth edition of the School Olympic Programme which was held this year under the theme "Sport and the family." The final competition for boys was held at the Academy of Sports Excellence (Aspire) in which 1291 students from all stages (typical and primary, preparatory and secondary) took part in the presence of a large crowd of fans and parents. The participants competed in the nine sports included in the fifth edition of the programme, namely, football, basketball, volleyball, handball, table tennis, athletics, swimming, fencing and gymnastics. The fifth edition of the programme featured a significant increase in the number of participants compared to last year. At the time when the number of participants in the final day of the year totaled 1291 students, the number was 1233 last year with the total number of participants in the current version reached 13,821 students compared to 11,892 students in the previous edition. In collective games, 3180 students from 202 schools participated in football contests compared to 2832 students from 132 schools last year, 2205 students from 150 schools participated in basketball compared to 2072 students from 148 schools last year, 2304 students from 178 school in volleyball compared to 1804 students from 138 schools last year and 1642 students of 131 schools in handball compared to 1582 students from 113 schools last year. In individual games, the number of participants in table tennis totaled 892 students from 229 schools compared to 441 students from 99 schools last year, 1899 students from 147 schools participated in athletics compared to 1689 students from 243 schools last year, 980 students from 153 schools participated in swimming compared to 943 students from 110 schools last year, 344 students from 45 schools participated in fencing against 197 students from 43 schools last year and 375 students from 99 schools participated in gymnastics compared to 332 for students from 89 schools last year. Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) jointly with the Supreme Education Council (SEC) and Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA) launched the fifth Schools Olympic Programme (SOP) 2011-2012 under the theme "Sport and Family" at Al Sadd Sports Clubs.. The SOP Executive Director, Khalid Mohamed SM Shandoor made a comprehensive evaluation about the programme s major progress over the past four years. Shandoor said that the statistics provide us with measurable and accurate results which confirm the appeal of the School Olympic Programme for the schools population. But, the quantity is not the only criteria for the extent of the success of our event. In fact, we notice every year a better quality in the technical level of the athletes and their performances. The hope of finding first class athletes becomes correspondingly bigger however we know that this is a long-term process and that there is a quite important proportion of luck in discovering talents. We should not forget that the Schools Olympic Programme is not only about results and elite performances. It is also about having as many students as possible practicing sports and acquiring life skills through a variety of activities affirming their personalities. HE Secretary-General of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Sheikh Saud bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani made an inspection tour inside Aspire, where he attended part of the activities of the final day of the Schools Olympic Program (SOP). The Secretary General was accompanied by the Head of the Palestine Olympic Committee and Palestinian Football Federation Jibril Rajob, as well as a number of Qatari heads of sports federations and the officials of the Olympic Committee. HE Sheikh Saud bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani stressed that the SOP was a "giant project" and a pioneer experience in the region. He added that the idea was initiated by HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Sheikh Saud bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said that the interaction of the students with the program was indicative of its success. Some 20,000 students participated in the program this year. The Secretary-General said that the Olympic Committee will look to have all schools in Qatar participate in the sixth, upcoming, edition of the program. He added that the committee will evaluate the performance of the program in order to develop it further in the future. (QNA)