The organising committee of the 2016 Arab Women’s Sports Tournament (AWST), taking place on February 2-12 in Sharjah, has extended the deadline for Arab clubs wishing to participate in the third edition of the tournament. Clubs who would like to participate now have till January 7 to register.

The tournament is organised by the Women Sports Department of the Sharjah Ladies Club (SLC) and clubs can register via post to the SLC’s address (PO Box 5588 Sharjah, United Arab Emirates) or through the tournament’s official website (www.awst.ae). The organizing

committee said they will announce the clubs and countries participating once the registration period is over.

Organisers are expecting to see a record number of participants in AWST 2016 following the success of the first two editions. In the tournament’s first edition in 2012, 12 countries and 42 clubs participated whereas in the second edition, 13 countries and 54 clubs took part. The number of players and administrative bodies has also increased; there were 582 players and administrative personnel in the first edition, and 900 in the second.

The second edition of the AWST also saw an increase in the number of members in the technical committee and jury, which rose from 15 members in the first tournament to 21 members in the second. While there were only five different kinds of competition in the first tournament, the number of competitions increased to seven in the second edition.

There will be eight different competitions in the 2016 edition including basketball, volleyball, table tennis, fencing, archery, shooting, athletics and equestrian jumping, which has been added to the tournament this year.

HE Nada Askar Al Naqbi, Chairperson of AWST’s Supreme Organising Committee, Head of Executive Committee and Tournament Manager said, "Over the past few months, we have received a large number of requests and inquiries from women's clubs in the Arab world. We expect a record breaking number of clubs and countries participating in the 2016 edition. This enthusiasm reaffirms our vision of raising awareness in society about the importance and necessity of sports for women at both the individual and community level. We seek to promote the presence of Arab women at the local, regional and pan Arab level and this has been possible under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, Chairperson of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs and Chairperson of the Sharjah Ladies Club.”
The AWST was launched after the Sharjah Ladies Club organized a number of successful sports tournaments called “Gulf Countries Competition”. Following this success HH Sheikha Jawaher establish the Women Sports Department in 2008. Arab countries outside the Gulf expressed interest in taking part in future events and as a result, HH Sheikha Jawaher developed the Arab Women Sports Tournament, the first of its kind in the Arab World. Two editions of AWST have already been successfully organized in 2012 and 2014.