From an academic perspective the United Arab Emirates (UAE) offers fantastic opportunities for University & College Sport Programs to visit and study this rapidly evolving model of sport. Our UAE program is centered in Dubai, with stops in Abu Dhabi & the beautiful beaches of the Arabian Gulf coast. The UAE is a very safe region and since the mid-90’s has become a hot spot for Westerners interested in experiencing the Arabian culture. The UAE is a federation of seven emirates (states/territories) situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia. The seven emirates are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah.
The capital and second largest city of the UAE is Abu Dhabi. It is also the country's center of political, industrial and cultural activities. Dubai is the UAE’s largest city and is quickly becoming a mecca for international tourism and sporting events. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, affectionately known as Sheikh Mo, became the ruler of Dubai in 2006. Sheikh Mo has placed great importance on building not only a comprehensive sports infrastructure for his own citizens, but also world class sporting facilities to attract large scale international events to his shores. Dubai is very quickly developing a healthy sporting culture for its indigenous sporting environment with the local community participating in a wide variety of sports at a club and recreational level. Also the seven emirates regularly compete in national leagues and tournaments in a range of sports that are controlled by specialized UAE governing bodies.
Sport in the United States of America (USA) is a very important part of the U.S culture and makes for a fascinating study opportunity for sport students from around the globe. The sporting culture in the U.S. is very different from that of many other countries, which in itself makes the USA sport system unique and worthy of study. Compared to any other nation, Americans prefer a unique set of sports. For example, soccer, the most popular sport in the world, is not as popular in the U.S. compared to the Big 4 of American football, basketball, baseball, and ice hockey. These professional leagues each enjoy massive media exposure and are considered the preeminent competitions in their respective arenas. Soccer is however the number one youth participation sport in the U.S. up to about the age of 13 and growing in recognition with the July 2007 addition of David Beckham to the L.A. Galaxy. Other major differences are that America rarely participates in international competition outside of the Olympics and World Championships, and cricket, played in over 200 countries, is virtually unheard of.
The origins of many of the world's most popular sports today lay in the codification of many traditional European games, especially those in Britain. Because Europe is so large and diverse our classes tend to alter quite significantly depending on which countries we are visiting in any given year. All classes will include sport specific exposure from an academic and recreational perspective along with tourism highlights of the various geographic regions we are visiting.
