QNA/DohaThe curtain was brought down yesterday on activities of the fifth edition of the School Olympic Programme which was held this year under the theme “Sport and the family”. The final competition for boys was held at the Academy of Sports Excellence, at Aspire in which 1,291 students took part in the presence of a large gathering. Participants competed in nine sports included in the latest edition: football, basketball, volleyball, handball, table tennis, athletics, swimming, fencing and gymnastics. The programme featured a significant increase in the number of participants compared to last year. The total number of participants this year reached 13,821 students compared to 11,892 last year. In collective games, 3,180 students from 202 schools participated in football matches compared to 2,832 from 132 schools last year, 2,205 students from 150 schools in basketball matches compared to 2,072 from 148 schools last year, 2,304 students from 178 schools in volleyball matches compared to 1,804 students from 138 schools last year and 1,642 students of 131 schools in handball contests compared to 1,582 from 113 schools last year. In individual games, the number of participants in table tennis totalled 892 students from 229 schools compared to 441 from 99 schools last year, 1,899 students from 147 schools took part in athletics compared to 1,689 from 243 schools last year, 980 students from 153 schools participated in swimming compared to 943 from 110 schools last year, 344 students from 45 schools participated in fencing against 197 students from 43 schools last year and 375 students from 99 schools participated in gymnastics compared to 332 from 89 schools last year.
The fifth School Olympic Programme (SOP) was organised jointly by the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC), the Supreme Education Council (SEC) and the Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA).SOP executive director Khalid Mohamed S M Shandoor said that the programme had made steady progress since its launch four years ago. “But the quantity is not the only criteria for the extent of the success of our event. In fact, we notice every year a better quality in the technical level of the athletes and their performances,” he said.“We should not forget that the Schools Olympic Programme is not only about results and elite performances. It is also about having as many students as possible practicing sports and acquiring life skills through a variety of activities affirming their personalities,” he added.Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) secretary-general HE Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman al-Thani made an inspection tour at Aspire where he attended parts of the activity of the final day of the programme. He was accompanied by the head of the Palestine Olympic Committee and Palestinian Football Federation Jibril Rajob as well as a number of Qatari heads of sports federations and the officials of the Olympic Committee.Terming the SOP as a“giant project” and a “pioneering experience” in the region, Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman said the idea was initiated by HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. The secretary-general said the Olympic Committee would look into the possibility of having all schools in Qatar participate in the sixth SOP. He said the Olympic Committee would evaluate the programme’s performance in order to develop it further in the future.