We think Infinite Sports CEO Gareth Mordey perfectly summed up the resilience of sports academies in the UAE during this difficult time in his speech at the Dubai Sports Academies Online Forum.
Here is an excerpt from his presentation when he detailed how sports academies which are normally competitors banded together.
“At the beginning of the recent COVID 19 global pandemic the UAE and Dubai took decisive action to halt the spread of the virus. The sports industry was hit first, then venues and schools closed their doors. We had to take action.
I was asked by many of the major sports academies in Dubai to convene a meeting to discuss this situation. Over 20 academies met in the same room – normally competitors, and we will be competitors again – however there was an industry need to keep calm, clear and consistent in messages, policies and approaches and overall ensure the sports industry, – although on hold – would recover and come back stronger.
We all made a commitment that the industry needed to survive for the betterment of our childrens’ future and ensure our children had sporting academies when we restart.
On behalf of those 20 academies I would like to thank the front line workers in the UAE and mainly the Dubai Sports Council for their continued support, guidance and leadership during the last three months.”
This unity was shown again on Saturday when these academies came together for the online forum and shared ideas. Sport really is a great leveller.