By Sports Reporter/Doha
As part of Maersk’s sponsorship of the 24th World Men’s Handball Championship, students at one lucky school in Qatar have gained the chance to rub shoulders with fans from around the world. Twenty four teams are competing in the tournament, which is expected to draw up to one billion TV viewers worldwide over a fortnight of competition.
Twenty tickets to the championships were handed over to Newton International Academy by Maersk and handball mascot Fahed, as part of the company’s support and sponsorship for the Schools Olympic Program. As part of this sponsorship, Maersk Oil promotes the benefits and the importance of healthy lifestyles in enabling sporting and academic success.
The Schools Olympic Program (SOP) is an annual multi-sport inter-school competition for more than 25,000 students in Qatar aged 5 to 18 years old. It runs for 7-8 months and culminates in finals at the Aspire Dome. It is designed to promote an active, healthy lifestyle for young people while also educating them on a particular sporting theme. The eighth annual finals day for the SOP will be held on March 20.
Lewis Affleck, Maersk Oil Qatar’s Managing Director, said: “Sport plays an important role in the social development of Qatar, so we are proud to be a prestige sponsor of the World Handball Championships. At Maersk, we are committed to playing a part in the continued human, social, environmental and economic development of Qatar as it works towards achieving the ambitious goals of the Qatar National Vision 2030”.
John Woolgar, Head of Sport at Newton International Academy said: “Sports stars have a strong influence on students so I’m sure the handball championships will further embed how important a healthy lifestyle is for success in sport but also in life generally. It’s great that our students got to experience such a world-class competition here in Doha, and I’m sure that it will inspire them to pursue their sporting goals.”
Maersk Oil Qatar – the operator of one of the world’s most complex oil fields at Al Shaheen, offshore Qatar – has an active social investment programme, focused on delivering and supporting projects and partnerships that can make a positive and lasting contribution to the economic and social development of Qatar.
Qatar 2015 mascot Fahed visits Newton International Academy.
