Sheikh Ahmed sets target on attracting Emiratis to sport of shooting

In the middle of the Dubai desert, the sound of hundreds of shotguns fill the air. Pigeons, of the clay variety, are the targets.

For four days, some of the world’s best shooters are here for the first Nad Al Sheba Shooting Championships. By all accounts, the event has been a success so far.

But one man is far from ecstatic; organiser Sheikh Ahmed bin Hasher.

The reason? The lack of Emirati, even Arab, interest, which had prompted Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, the patron of the tournament, to allocate US$135,000 (Dh499,855) of the total prize money of $735,000 for Middle Eastern shooters only.

“Our main objective is to spread the sport locally and in the Middle East,” Sheikh Ahmed said. “That’s why we included, within the whole tournament, a different section. This way they can compete against each other. Arab competitors may say ‘I’ve no chance against experienced foreign champions’, so here, we are giving you an opportunity, trying to reach out to you.”

Despite the financial incentive, the tournament is still dominated by European and North American shooters.

“Unfortunately, the Arab presence remains very poor,” Sheikh Ahmed said. “You can count on one hand the ones that are of good standard, but in terms of results, internationally, there aren’t many.”

In particular, he laments the lack of interest in the UAE.

“I always tell them [Emiratis], your government is opening doors for you,” he said.

Few have stepped through.

In 2004 at Athens, Sheikh Ahmed won the UAE’s first and only Olympic gold medal, but his success did not signal a significant spike in the popularity of shooting across the Emirates.

“The sport has spread very slowly since then, probably [grown] by about only five per cent,” he said.

“But as a dream to replicate that win, we remain as far away as ever.”

Sheikh Ahmed had the backing to succeed in his discipline and took the chance with both hands. It is this “can-do” attitude he hopes to spread among his fellow Emiratis.

“As an experienced shooter, it is my job to pass on my knowledge to the younger generation,” he said “But I cannot do that without them wanting to learn.”

For Mohammed bin Mujren, one of the UAE’s representatives at Nad Al Sheba, the dearth of local shooters has much to do with economics.

“It’s an expensive sport to take part in, to train for daily,” he said. “The commercial shooting clubs are expensive.

“You look around here and see people that have been shooting for over 20 years, that’s their expertise. This is the difference, why it’s less popular here, if this sport was to get better funding you’ll see it’s popularity rise.”

Bin Mujren considers himself fortunate to have received financial backing throughout his career.

“Personally, I’m a professional in the national team and so I get the necessary backing,” he said. “If I wasn’t, then I wouldn’t be able to take part. It wouldn’t be easy.”

The separate purse may be good news for Middle Eastern shooters at this tournament, but Bin Mujren said that it cannot alter perceptions of the sport overnight among Emiratis.

“I don’t think the prizes will help, in the Middle East there are many countries [with good shooters],” he said.

“There’s Egypt, there’s Lebanon. These are countries that have good funding at club levels. The same with the Kuwaitis.

“Emiratis do not see that they have a chance to win, but if in the future there is better funding, and more young people take up shooting and are trained properly, then I don’t think these other competitors will be better than us.”

Bin Mujren said hopefuls can improve by rubbing shoulders with the world’s best. “It’s about the experience that you gain, day to day, even hour to hour,” he said.

“Any person you come across you can learn a lot from. Experience comes from being around others and listening to those who are better than you.”

To produce champions the sport must be encouraged at grass-roots level. “Of course, if you give school kids a good foundation things will improve,” Bin Mujren said.

It is a road that Sheikh Ahmed is already mapping out, through the National Association of Shooting (NAS).

"We have a programme, under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan, and our aim now is to target age groups by visiting schools. There's a plan," he said. "Perhaps we won't be winning medals in the few coming years, but hopefully that will come further in the future."

Sheikh Ahmed hopes the success of the Nad Al Sheba Shooting Championships, which concludes tomorrow, will start raising the profile of shooting in the UAE.

“Hopefully it will become a yearly event,” Sheikh Ahmed said. “This year the prize money is $735,000, but Sheikh Hamdan has ordered that this be raised to $1 million, and we thank him for this gesture.”

Sheikh Ahmed has already shown he can inspire others to glory, training Englishman Peter Wilson to Olympic double trap gold in 2012.

It is time for his fellow Emiratis to step up.

akhaled@thenational.ae

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