JEDDAH, 25 April 2006 — For the first time, Olympic games for schools is being held here. The event will take place in four days — April 26-27 and May 3-4, ace rally driver Abdullah Bakhashab told a meeting of academics, schools and students at In 10 So, the entertainment center located at Serafi Mega Mall, on Sunday night.
The event will be held at In 10 So and feature competitions in karting, dart, wall climbing, billiards and play stations. In all 10 schools will field their students at various competitions.
Bakhashab said that 120 school students from among 300 would be selected to qualify for the competitions. Each school will field 12 students — two of them for each of six contests. Abdul Ghani Al-Khirigi, chairman of the private schools committee, expressed his happiness over the organization of the tournament and hoped that students would benefit a great deal from the games. “We can consider making this an annual event,” he said.
Saleh Al-Deiji, Makkah-based chairman of youth social development committee, said academic and sports pursuits should go hand in hand and students should devote enough time to both.
Essam Nawar, Toyota marketing manager at Abdul Latif Jameel Co. Ltd., the sponsor of the schools games, said the event offered an opportunity for Toyota to offer its sponsorship and serve the society. Sport fans, education specialists, school principals and students were among those present. Schools taking part are Thaghr Jeddah, Jeel Al-Faisal, Dar Al-Bian, Dar Al-Fikr, Ryad Al-Qur’an, Jeddah Private School, Al-Ikhlas, Al-Angal and Manarat Jeddah.
Each school will be free to choose its team and game. The first day of the competition will be in bowling and billiards. The second day will feature play stations and dart. The third day will be a wall climbing event and karting will be contested on the fourth day.
