Best Leagues, Competitions for School Sports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, UAE

DASSA

The Dubai Affiliated School Sport Association was set up to encourage schools in the emirate to participate in competitive sports. It has now largely merged with the Abu Dhabi equivalent – ADISSA – and many Abu Dhabi schools now participate in the Dubai leagues. Although initially mainly UK curriculum schools (and offering sports traditionally offered in UK schools), DASSA now includes several other schools of alternative curricula.

Sports offered include the following: Badminton, Basketball, Cricket, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Netball, Rounders, Rugby (7-aside), Rugby Union, Girls Touch Rugby, Softball, Swimming, Table Tennis, Tennis, Track & Field and Volleyball.

42 schools are currently members of DASSA. The complete list of school members, together with the sports section of their websites, can be found here.

In checking the scores across the range of sports offered through ADISSA and DASSA, the same names tend to keep appearing on the podium.

Without doubt, the most popular sports are Basketball (where an astonishing 287 teams participated in over 1,370 fixtures), Cricket (where 53 teams competed in 230 fixtures across 5 leagues), Football (where 498 teams participate in close to 2,800 fixtures) and Netball (227 teams playing 1,492 matches) and Rounders (with 183 teams and over 560 matches). Girls Touch Rugby (33 teams with 132 matches) and Volleyball (12 games with 60 fixtures) are smaller but growing sports.

We understand that Kent College is also planning to put its name firmly on the Honour Board with a particular focus on growing Hockey which, to-date, has not been a favourite among UAE schools.

 

A highlight of the sporting calendar is the Schools Rugby 7 (for under 16’s) and 10’s (for under 18’s) competition that takes place at the same time as the Emirates Airline sponsored Dubai Rugby Sevens. In 2016, Dubai College came away as the winners of the Rugby 7’s trophy whilst Dubai English Speaking College (DESC) took the Rugby 10’s trophy – beating Dubai College. A growing Rugby league (for both Rugby Union and Touch Rugby) is being established.

One sport that does not feature highly in the schools’ leagues is swimming although this sport is offered by the majority of schools.  This may be as a result of the historical growth of swimming as an Outside school activity through specialist swim clubs.  The same is also true of tennis.

Overall, the results across all sports would suggest that Dubai College – with its reputation for being among the most selective schools academically – and the non-selective Dubai English Speaking College, also know how to build highly successful sports teams.  There are plenty of other options at a range of Outstanding schools (JESS, Repton and Jumeirah College) where sports clearly also play an important role. Among Primary-age students, results are much more varied.

Below is a chart of the winning performers in the 2016/17 ADISSA and DASSA leagues. Please note that this list is not exhaustive.  It covers the most Senior level at which these sports are played.  Full details for all levels and divisions can be found on the DASSA website.

What is evident from these results is the vast range of options available to schools across these sports, the commitment of the UK curriculum schools, in particular, to integrate competitive sports into the curriculum and the success of Dubai College, Dubai English Speaking College, the British School of Al Khubairat and the British International School Abu Dhabi, in consistently fielding winning teams across a range of sports.

Schools, such as Jumeirah English Speaking School, Jumeirah College and Repton School Dubai and Brighton College and Cranleigh School in Abu Dhabi, who have not had the same involvement in emirates-wide competitive Secondary school sports until more recently, are also consistently challenging.  Jumeirah College in particular, which does not have on-site Sports fields and has to travel to Dubai Sports City to train, has been remarkably successful and has shown what commitment can achieve.

Similar opportunities are offered by a range of Very Good or Good schools and whilst these may not be among the winners, they certainly will provide your children with the opportunity to compete with other schools across the UAE.

Details of the sports and fixtures available can be found here.

Index
Abu Dhabi School Sports Association
British Schools of the Middle East
Dubai Affiliated School Sport Association
Dubai Little League
Emirates Athletic Conference
Junior Emirates Athletic Conference
Middle East South Asia Conference (MESAC)
Near East Schools Activities Conference (NESAC)
SchoolsSports
duFC School’s Cup
Sport 360 National Schools League
UAE Xchange Abu Dhabi Schools League

ALSO SEE: The best schools in the UAE for Sport