JEDDAH, 11 July 2003 — Saudi Arabian Premier Club Al-Ittihad are setting new standards by becoming the first club in the Kingdom to use brilliance in football to cross cultural boundaries.
Recommended by Prince Sultan ibn Fahd, President of the Youth Welfare Presidency, to represent the Kingdom in the first-ever program “connecting the future”, the Jeddah club took part in the program with a visit to Manchester in England, where apart from learning new skills in soccer they were also given a glimpse of another culture and background.
The program was a brainchild of the British Cultural Council and who, after the successful completion of the tour by the Ittihad players, that it was a 100 percent success.
“Connecting the future” was an idea born after the events of Sept. 11, 2001 in New York and Washington, with the organizers main focus being to expose players from the Islamic world to new players, cultures and ideas and invite them to see and experience new things. The organizers felt there was no better place than England to start with.
Seven players, two from the professional team and the rest from the youth squad, made the initial one-week trip from June 28 to July 4. Muhammad Awad Al-Refaie, manager of the team, and Mahfooz Hafez, coach of the youth team, accompanied the players to England. Tony Calderbank and Magdi Al-Beledi, organizers of the trip, also made up the team.
Part of the program saw them visiting the English team Manchester United. The Ittihad players also met with a team of physically challenged players in the Manchester club.
In an interview with Arab News, Al-Refaie said: “Apart from the players, the Ittihad club too benefited from this visit. Ideas and experiences gained by these players will, as a knock-on effect, be transmitted to others in the club. Players were exposed to a new culture, new people and a completely different way of life. They also learned to set out a daily program and found the emphasize on planning time unique.”
“In England, everything is organized and divided into various segments of time. The Ittihad players were also given a crash course in English. The value of eating healthy food on time, time commitment, and a timely training schedule was also emphasized. A player in Saudi Arabia rarely follows a food regimen, and are only committed to training time,” Al-Refaie added.
He said: “We are well on our way to an agreement with the British Council to organize a reciprocal trip for English players, who can be exposed to Islamic culture and values, and they in turn can take these lessons learned to their family and friends back home,” adding, “Everything we learned in England will be implemented here in Ittihad club.”
In England, Ittihad won a small one-day tournament in which teams from Sweden, England and Pakistan participated.
Ittihad team professional Muhammad Amin said he had realized a personal ambition with this trip. “I was told about this trip a week before flying out. Ittihad coach Khalid Al-Goroni did not want me to leave on the trip because he said that he might need me for the Saudi-Egyptian Super Cup. I talked to the coach and explained how important this experience would be for me and he acquiesced. I was very happy that I was chosen. I had always dreamed about visiting Manchester United, and my dream has come true.”
Mahfooz Hafez, Ittihad youth coach, said, It was very important that a player get some learning experience from international players. “On this trip we learned the importance of the English language and how important it is for a player to master it if he wants to be a top professional. We are trying to let the player think international rather than local. The educational system in the outside world is far more advanced than here.”
“We visited the team museum where the history of players and the team was in front of us. Stories of important players were there for posterity. I wish we had this much concern about our players, because most people do not have an idea of the history of their team or the players who played in the past. I hope that teams will use this experience, because I believe this could be a strong motivation for players to contribute more to his club,” he added.
