change in sport

The development of UAE sports

I interviewed my grandfather to ask him about the types of sports that were practiced in the past and how they changed and developed over time. My grandfather is 75 years old and he has good memory about the past of the UAE.

My grandfather told me that camel racing was one of the oldest sports that UAE people used to practice. UAE people reared camels for different purposes especially camel racing. People in the UAE grew up camels and trained them in order to participate in camel racing. It is one of the most famous traditional habits that people used to do. Every winter, camel racing was organized in Dubai. People from everywhere in the UAE brought their camels to participate in the race. Jockeys were used to ride the camels during the race to encourage them for increasing their speed.  In this race, the winner was the fastest camel. The owner of the winner camel received medal and amount of money.

My grandfather continued to tell me about the development of camel racing sport. The sport of camel racing has developed these days. Most UAE people practice the sport of camel racing nearly everyday. There are many race tracks everywhere where UAE people organize races daily. Big camel races are hold regularly four times in a year where participants from the UAE and neighboring countries such as Oman, Saudi and Qatar come to participate. The race is held in big track in Dubai. The owner of the winner camel receive big sum of money besides the prizes that Sheikhs donate for the winner.  

My grandfather added that falconry was another old sport that UAE people used to do. This tradition was originated many centuries ago. UAE people grew up falcons in order to use them in hunting trips.  UAE used to accompany falcons with them in the desert to look for and to catch wild rabbits, hares and houbara. Falcons were trained on how hunt animals. The trip of hunting using falcons was hard and people were exposed to danger. It would take long time to find the prey to be hunted. When falcons caught the prey, the hunter took the prey to provide food for his family. Falconry was used basically in order to provide food for the daily use.    

Nowadays, falconry has changed.  People maintain falcons as symbol of strength and speed. Emirati people grow up Falcons as a hobby. The UAE people are pride to practice falconry and we can see that some of them accompany falcons where they go. The UAE people practice falconry as a type of fun and enjoyment.