The inaugural UAE Netball Cup takes place in Dubai next week with world ranking points up for grabs.
The national team will face Kenya, Namibia, Singapore, Republic of Ireland, and USA in a round-robin league at the Sheikh Rashid bin Hamdan indoor stadium at Al Nasr Club from June 15 to 21.
“We really wanted to try and bring some depth here to this fantastic location, so here we are, pleased to do just that with a world ranking event,” technical director of the UAE Netball Federation Susanne Skelding told The National.
The UAE are currently 23rd in the world rankings but have traditionally played all their tournaments in Europe, where the game has strong roots.
Skelding said the reason for hosting an international tournament on home soil was to increase the UAE's ranking, and showcase the country as a hub for netball, with the ultimate aim of hosting a future netball World Cup.
“It's a fantastic location," said Skelding. "Netball is pretty much a commonwealth sport, and so you've got your top countries are one end of the globe and the other end of the globe.
“Australia, obviously, and New Zealand, and England on the other side of the world are your top nations. Jamaica, also, in that top four. And it really is a great location for, I think, all of those teams.
“We wanted to showcase that we could host an international event here to attract some of the top teams to potentially come and host a test series and maybe a fast-five competition, maybe even a World Cup.
“And that is definitely what we are aiming to do, to be able to host a big international tournament like this.”
The teams for the inaugural UAE Cup has been randomly selected. Namibia (18th) are the top-ranked team in the competition with the USA ranked in the 30s.
The UAE has been preparing for the championship since they returned from the Singapore Nations Cup last September.
“We have a core of players who have been playing for quite a few years. Carly Lewis is the captain and she's been there since inception in 2018. There have been people who have been coming and going.
“We've also got four young players that have come up through the development programmes and into the young Falcons and now are playing as UAE Falcons. And their preparation has been extreme.
“The squad had lots of training on a bi-weekly basis but in addition we've had some showcase games and showcasing and some training games against a men's team.”
Skelding has been working for over 14 years in the development and promotion of netball in the UAE, from school level upwards.
“We have a fantastic schools programme both in Sharjah, in Abu Dhabi and in Dubai. So they play fantastic netball at the schools level. In addition to that, on the next level you've got club netball.
“Over the last 10 years, there have been a lot of clubs that have formed. Now, some of these are independent clubs that have formed. They're all clubs on their own.”
Skelding, also director of Active Sports, has overseen the formation of various leagues all over Dubai and Abu Dhabi, spread across various age groups and skill levels.
“There's been lots of developments at a grassroots level. It's really important, I think, to not just look at the top bit of the cherry on the cake, I think it's really important to build that grassroots development structure underneath.
“There are leagues that happen all over Dubai, all over Abu Dhabi, from all different ages, from tiny little ones like, you know, five to six years old, all the way up to adults, at all different levels.
“We're building quite a following for netball. And what that does is it builds the ecosystem of netball within the country.”
The UAE squad for the Six Nations Cup: Carly Lewis (Capt), Sophie Hankin (V. Capt), Holly Guerin, Isla Edgar, Ellie Smith, Jenna Guy, Molly Fuller, Rachel Tuckey, Mila Morgan, Kelly Loy, Fiona van Dam, Evie Hollis, Sophie Nesbitt, Abbie Wright.
