The UAE national junior jiu-jitsu team will make their first appearance at the European Open Championship in Portugal, which runs from Wednesday until January 25.
The European Open comes after Emirati youngsters enjoyed success in their first overseas appearance at the American Kids National Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Los Angeles in October.
They won 45 medals at the competition, 15 of them gold.
The squad leaving tonight for Lisbon has 23 boys aged under 18, more than half of whom competed in Los Angeles. They will compete in several different age, weight and belt categories at the European Open.
"It will be another learning curve for the youngsters aside from winning medals,” said Fahad Ali Al Shamsi, the chief executive of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation.
"The objective is to provide them more opportunities to gain international experience at a young age. The national junior team did remarkably well in the American Kids Nationals, and we hope they can return with similar success from their first competition in Europe.”
According to Al Shamsi, more than 40,000 boys and girls are practicing jiu-jitsu under the schools programme, a curriculum established in 2008 by the Abu Dhabi Education Council.
"The numbers have just multiplied every passing year and now we have reached a point where those who have excelled in local competitions to compete internationally,” he said.
"It was our long-term objective to provide the youngsters the opportunity to compete in international competitions at an early age. The experience at this level at an early age will obviously help them at the senior levels.”
Source: The National