Fulneck School Look Back on their Recent Dubai Tour with inspiresport

All Content Produced by Fulneck School

During October half term 2017, the time finally arrived for the sports tour to Dubai with Inspiresport. Students and staff gathered excitedly on Saturday morning, eager to be on our way. As we boarded the Emirates A380 at Manchester airport, it was evident that this was going to be the trip of a lifetime!

On arrival in Dubai we were greeted with clear blue skies and 38-degree heat. Our first stop was the Marina to get our first taste of life in Dubai. The architecture of the buildings was mesmerizing and provided the perfect backdrop for our first official tour photo!

Our first fixture of the tour was against Kings Al Barsha. We stood with pride, side by side as the national anthems rang out. Then on to the action! The students quickly acclimatised to the high temperatures and began to pile on the pressure. The u18’s football team won their match 3-0 and the u15’s football team won their match with a convincing 8-0 victory. The netball team made it a hat-trick of victories, with a 30-19 win, with all girls putting in maximum effort!

Our second fixture of the tour was against First Point School, and we were determined to keep our 100% record intact. The netballers dominated their match, leading to a second victory. First Point won in the u15’s football match 2-0. The time then came for the u18’s to take the field, with all their peers cheering them on. The teams were very evenly matched throughout the game and the score line reflected the close contest. It was Fulneck however, that were victorious, nicking a close 4-3 result right at the death!

Our final fixtures of the tour featured a cricket match in replace of the u18’s football. The girls played this match at a different venue, against GEMS Wellington, whilst the boys travelled back to Kings Al Barsha to play 20/20 cricket and a final football match for the u15’s. It was a closely fought netball contest, with Fulneck succumbing to their first defeat, a closely fought battle that finished 17-15 to GEMS Wellington.

The U15’s football team faced a stronger Kings Al Barsha team in this fixture, with an even competition throughout. The final score finished 3-0.

The cricketers enjoyed a training session in the sun before their match.

We combined sightseeing with sport during the tour to make the most of what Dubai had to offer! We enjoyed a traditional city tour, where we got to go and test our bartering skills in the souks and see what the old town of Dubai was really like. We took in all the sights- the Burj Al Arab, the Burj Khalifa, the mosques, the malls and we even managed to squeeze in a visit to the palace!

The waterpark at the Atlantis was absolutely amazing! The slides lived up to expectations and everyone really enjoyed themselves.

The final part of our magical tour to Dubai was the desert jeep safari and BBQ. We hit the dunes in the jeeps and had a brilliant time at the traditional BBQ, with amazing entertainment throughout the evening.

Sadly, our tour had to come to an end. Before we left Dubai we held a presentation evening, hosted by Fulnecks very own Ant & Dec- Mr Walker and Miss Turner. Awards were given to the most successful teams, most improved players, and more importantly, King and Queen of the tour.

We had lots of laughs and memories that will last a lifetime.

Thanks to Inspiresport for helping us to organise a trip of a lifetime.

Quotes

Ryan Walker, Head of PE at Fulneck School who organised the trip, said:

It was important that the students had chance to see and learn about the area and understand how Dubai has evolved into the amazing place it is today.

The sport was competitive with all the teams equipping themselves extremely well despite the very warm conditions. We were also made to feel very welcome by our hosts and inspiresport did an excellent job of helping us to plan our sports tour.’

Alex Ibbotson, the school’s head boy and a member of the tour party, added:

‘The tour was fantastic and has created memories that will last a lifetime.

It was also nice to mix with other students from across the school and forge new friendship groups, as well as having the opportunity to test our sporting ability against schools we would not normally play against. On behalf of everyone I wish to thank Mr Walker and the other members of staff who made the trip possible along with the tour company Inspiresport.’