With just over two weeks to the opening ceremony, Stanmore Jafferys gathered the Unity Squad on Sunday 8th December to set the scene and the momentum for the global tournament.
We were also honoured to have our Hujjat President Dr Munir Datoo and Sponsors attending the event. (Sponsors and partners will be announced in a separate article).
Sheikh Abbas Jaffer blessed the gathering and delivered an inspirational message about the importance of sports and our code of conduct, in particular observation of Salaat.
90 SJ Ambassadors (60 gents & 30 ladies) plus team leaders and families will represent the SJ 5* badge, making it one of the largest squads at the event.
Our Sports Heads and Captains shared their wishes and words of wisdom as follows:
Sibtain Allibhai – SJRS (Racket Sports) Team Captain
SJRS squad has been practicing & training regularly for The Unity Games in both Table Tennis & Badminton. I am confident that the team is in high spirits and is ready to take up the challenge. It won’t be easy as there are some outstanding players around the globe who will be participating however our team is equally good and will make SJRS proud and bring trophies home. INSHALLAH.
I request all team members to be disciplined, on and off the court and give their very best.
Wishing everyone best of luck.
Dubai – here we come !!
Shabir Mulji – SJCC (Cricket) Team Captain
Very excited with the squad we are taking to the Unity Games in Dubai this year. Privileged to be the captain of a team that has a mixture of seniors and young but very talented and enthusiastic players.
Have been training pretty hard for the last 3 months and confident going into the tournament.
Message to the squad – play hard, fear none, respect the opponents and give your 100% when on the field.
Mohammed Valjy – SJFC (Football) Head
All the best to our Unity participants and inshallah they will need to purchase additional baggage on their return to bring back all their trophies!
I want to wish all our footballers a safe and successful journey.
A special thanks to our two captains, Murtaza Merali and Fazleabbas Mohamedali for their leadership during the preparations and hope their leadership will bring the best out of our talented footballers during the tournament.
Finally a big thank you to SJ HQ for their continuous support and of course our Unity Sponsors helping us through this journey.
Shane Merali – SJVB (Volleyball) Captain
Thank you all for coming to the send-off event. I know the last few weeks/months have been hectic with training sessions especially for those who are participating in multiple sports.
I’d also like to thank you all for your commitment to representing this great club of ours at the Unity Games.
A shout out to the VB players, some of whom are attending their 2nd international sports event of 2019 and probably our 5th tournament abroad in the last 3 and a bit years. Inshallah this year we come back with the trophy – just reward for all the effort, dedication and sacrifices on top of the endless hours of practises at Aldenham you have put in over the last few months and years.
Of course not of all us can be in the A team, however the only way we will do well is if we go there United as ONE team, ONE squad and push one another to achieve our goal.
Equally important is to represent SJ with the Akhlaq that is associated with the followers of the awaited one..
I will leave you with a quote i read on my way in today – which i found quite inspiring
In Sports and Business there are 3 kinds of people. “Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happened”.
Let’s go there and make it happen!!
