Teams from the Sharjah Ladies Club (SLC) are getting tournament-ready by participating in training camps and competitions. SLC teams are training both locally and abroad for the Arab Women Sports Tournament (AWST 2016), the only competition of its kind and one of the largest sports tournaments in region, taking place in Sharjah from 2-12 February.

Nada Al Naqbi, Deputy Head of the AWST Supreme Organising Committee, Head of Executive Committee, and Tournament’s manager, said that SLC went to great lengths to ensure the success of all teams participating in the third edition of the AWST, planning several training camps and participation in other competitions.

She said, “We have an intensive and strategic training program set up by professional trainers that took place locally and abroad. This will ensure all our teams are in the best competitive condition in readiness for the Arab tournament. We’re looking forward to seeing our teams achieve the best results as they have always done in previous tournaments.”

The basketball teams started preparing for AWST by participating in a local tournament which started on 11 December 2015 and the volleyball teams took part in a local tournament on 25 December 2015. The basketball and volleyball teams will be taking part in a camp in Belgrade, Serbia, from 13 to 22 January.

The Archery team held a local training camp in Al-Ain from 20 to 26 December, and is scheduled to hold a second camp in Sharjah from 13 to 19 January while the athletics team has been training in the Dubai Police Officers’ Club since 22 December 2015 and will conclude training on 7 January 2016. Meanwhile the fencing team has been training in Cairo since 24 December 2015, and will finish on 7 January 2016.

The shooting team is heading to a training camp in Germany from 7 to 16 January, with a backup camp in Doha should the camp in Germany not be ready. The team will then have a second training camp in Abu Dhabi from 18 to 21 January and another in the Indian capital of New Delhi from 25 to 30 January.

The table tennis team is to start preparations for AWST 2016 in a club in Dubai for three days, from 20 to 23 January then hold a second training camp at Al-Nasr club in Dubai from 27 to 30 January.

The show jumping team is participating for the first time in AWST and the team is preparing by participating in competitions. The team took part in the Abu Dhabi International Showjumping Championships from 23 to 25 December and 7 to 9 January. They also took part in the Sharjah International Showjumping Championship from 31 December to 2 January, 14 to 16 January, and the 21 to 23 January. Their last tournament prior to AWST will be the Dubai International Showjumping Championship on the 28 to 30 January.

Al Naqbi added, “There is no doubt that organizing local championships on a regular basis will contribute to ensuring high levels of fitness and ability among our players. The teams that did not participate in local competitions benefited from the training camps that were organized. Through this extensive programme of events and training camps we expect our female athletes to be fully ready for the games in February.”

The AWST is hosted by Sharjah every two years under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi. Following the success of Gulf Countries Competition (GCC), a sports competition organised by the Sharjah Ladies Club, Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Al Qasimi established the Women Sports Department in 2008 and opened the GCC to all Arab countries in order to raise the profile of women's sports in the region. The tournament is the first of its kind in the Arab World, the first edition of which took place in 2012 and the second in 2014. Contestants participate in eight games: basketball; volleyball; table tennis; fencing; archery; shooting, athletics and show jumping.