Children in the capital got to try their hand at rugby as the region’s largest youth event for the sport – The Etihad Airways Junior Rugby Festival – hit town.
The festival, taking place until 26th October, features a variety of teams from across the GCC and UK. This year the inaugural Academy Week, in partnership with Harlequins Rugby Football Club, sees two leading UK school first XV teams – Sedbergh and Millfield – in Abu Dhabi for a week of training with Harlequins academy coaches.
Children in the UAE will be able to participate in the sixth edition of the festival with the Etihad Community Schools’ Week. The event will see UK-based Harlequins community coaches teaching basic skills to over 500 children, in approximately ten schools.
“The Etihad Airways Junior Rugby Festival is a long-standing fixture in the UAE’s sporting calendar, and a fantastic reinforcement of our support of grassroots sport in this country, as well as across the GCC and the rest of the world,” says Etihad Airways’ chief commercial officer, Peter Baumgartner.
The culmination of the festival will take place on 25th and 26th October, when over 200 youth teams compete in the two-day Etihad Airways Junior Rugby Tournament at Zayed Sports City.
