{"id":45112,"date":"2021-12-02T20:14:04","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T16:14:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/?p=45112"},"modified":"2021-12-02T20:14:04","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T16:14:04","slug":"emirati-kids-who-have-taken-up-rugby-thats-the-real-progression-icon-brian-odriscoll-hails-uaes-brilliant-development-as-he-co-hosts-hsbc-initiative-to-direct-more-young-people-into-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/emirati-kids-who-have-taken-up-rugby-thats-the-real-progression-icon-brian-odriscoll-hails-uaes-brilliant-development-as-he-co-hosts-hsbc-initiative-to-direct-more-young-people-into-c\/","title":{"rendered":"“Emirati Kids Who Have Taken Up Rugby – That’s The Real Progression”: Icon Brian O’driscoll Hails UAE’s “Brilliant” Development As He Co-Hosts HSBC Initiative To Direct More Young People Into Careers In Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

British & Irish Lions rugby legend Brian O\u2019Driscoll has described the growing enthusiasm for rugby among young Emiratis and UAE expats as \u201cbrilliant\u201d, as he marked this weekend\u2019s return of the Emirates Dubai Sevens<\/em> by hosting a unique coaching course for local teenagers eyeing a career in sport.<\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s record try scorer was on-site at the Sevens Stadium to pilot a new HSBC initiative giving young people a taster of the different roles they could pursue in sport that lie away from the pitch.<\/p>\n

Called HSBCWorld Of Opportunity<\/em>, the new programme provides group workshops spanning a variety of topics including journalism<\/strong>, coaching<\/strong>, event management, promotion and operations<\/strong>, at each stop on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series tour calendar.<\/p>\n

The debut session took place on Thursday morning, where O\u2019Driscoll and England World Cup winner turned commentator Nolli Waterman \u2013 both HSBC ambassadors \u2013 talked a group of Dubai youngsters through how to gain a new perspective on what it really takes to stage an iconic international rugby sevens event \u2013 and how a career in elite level sport does not have to mean being an athlete.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Driscoll explained: \u201cThis morning was really all about informing the next generation that participation is just one part of sport \u2013 that there\u2019s so many other components that go into creating an event like the Dubai Sevens. There are hundreds of jobs involved in an event like this, and if sport is your passion but you\u2019re not going to get to the competitive piece, then why not try and find a way into being involved in sport? That could be through branding, media, marketing, PR, refereeing or coaching, for example.There are so many other aspects to sport people can be part of.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an energy that comes with sports events that you can feel when you\u2019re here: it\u2019s hard to come and socialise and enjoy that, then go back to a gig you don\u2019t like, so why not try and find something you\u2019re really into and develop a career around that? That\u2019s what we were trying to communicate today.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Driscoll\u2019s glittering career as captain of the British & Irish Lions, Ireland and Leinster took him around the world competing. Since retiring, the 42-year-old has taken on different roles within sport, such as a commentator and analysist, and event\/sponsor ambassador.<\/p>\n

With the latter, O\u2019Driscoll has made the trip out to the Emirates Dubai Sevens<\/em> four times. He admitted that meeting the young Emirati rugby players involved in HSBC\u2019s World Of Opportunity Programme at the Emirates Dubai 7s<\/em>today was an eye-opener in terms of how much the game has grown in the UAE.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019ve been coming here five years now,\u201d said the World Rugby Hall of Famer. \u201cBeing here now speaking to young Emirati kids who have taken up rugby \u2013 that\u2019s the real progression. The level of enthusiasm from them is brilliant to see and huge credit to HSBC for helping drive that. I think 500,000 kids have experienced sport for the first time through their grassroots initiatives, which is an amazing number. If even a fraction of them have the passion some of us have for sport, then that\u2019s a great thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Waterman, who co-hosted Thursday\u2019s session with O\u2019Driscoll \u2013 where she focused on carving a career in media and sports journalism \u2013said she hoped to instil a self-belief in the Dubai teenagers with her own powerful story.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cWhen HSBC first asked me if they could share my story in a documentary, Finding Her Voice<\/a>, which was published earlier this year, I hoped that by sharing my personal journey in the world of sports media, more young people would gain the confidence to step outside of their own comfort zone and believe they can do whatever they want.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been given a number of incredible opportunities, but it is important that we continue open up the pathways to jobs in the sports media, sports promotion and coaching to as wide a group as possible. That\u2019s the simple idea that sits at the heart of this pilot, which I hope to see grow in 2022 and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

HSBC has been partner of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series for over 10 years and in that time has been committed to driving meaningful change across the series, playing a crucial role in the coming together of the men\u2019s and women\u2019s series to position rugby sevens as a leader in gender equality in sport.<\/p>\n

Central to HSBC\u2019s partnership with rugby sevens is its desire to build a sustainable and accessible future for the sport.\u00a0 The global rugby grassroots programme has opened up opportunities for tens of thousands of girls to pick up a rugby ball and play the game, often for the very first time.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the initiative, Sven Gloor, Senior Manager, HSBC Global Brand Partnerships, said: \u201cOpportunities should be available to everyone and the goal here is to give young people a taste of the different career opportunities available in sport beyond the pitch.This is something that sits very much at the heart of our business. HSBC has always tried to use its global network, capabilities and perspective to create new opportunities for the communities it operates in.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognise what a challenging last 18 months it\u2019s been for everyone, including the sports world and those on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series. Which is why we don\u2019t just want to celebrate being back on the pitch. We want to try and build back better off it, in a way that creates more opportunities for more people. If this pilot goes well, we\u2019ll be looking to do something similar at future Series legs.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Driscoll said he was delighted to see the return of the Emirates Dubai Sevens, adding: \u201cIt\u2019s a great event, great fun. I love the fact it\u2019s everyone competing: men, women, golden oldies, people who think they can still do it, but they can\u2019t \u2013 but they\u2019re still giving it a crack! It is an event that has really, really grown year-on-year and it\u2019s good to have it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he would have liked to pull on his boots in his earlier life to enjoy playing in the unique atmosphere of the Emirates Dubai Sevens, O\u2019Driscoll added: \u201cI really would have. I don\u2019t know if this skin complexion would\u2019ve taken to the heat too kindly, so from that point of view I\u2019d have gone back a very different colour than I came out as!\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more, follow @HSBC_Sport <\/strong>on Twitter and Instagram and HSBC Sport<\/strong> on Facebook.<\/p>\n

\"\" \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British & Irish Lions rugby legend Brian O\u2019Driscoll has described the growing enthusiasm for rugby among young Emiratis and UAE expats as \u201cbrilliant\u201d, as he marked this weekend\u2019s return of the Emirates Dubai Sevens by hosting a unique coaching course for local teenagers eyeing a career in sport. Ireland\u2019s record try scorer was on-site at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45112"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45116,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45112\/revisions\/45116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.dubaicityguide.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}