Wednesday 15 / January / 2025
This January, we all made a bunch of New Year’s resolutions and try to keep them. At the Modern College of Business and Science, though, it was the month which saw Oman’s first sports science programme introduced as an academic course.
This year-long diploma in sports science is seen as an instrument to aid Oman’s economic diversification.
“It is supposed to equip young people who will undergo the course to apply the global sense to sport, so that they can work not just in Oman, but internationally,” said Dr. Aleksandar Djordjevic, the Director of the Center for Continuing Education and Professional Studies.
With the massive interest for football in the region, this year’s pilot programme will kick-off with subjects that specialise in the beautiful game. “There is a better approach to it than just playing it,” he said. “There is the science of data about sport, about past experiences in sports. We can learn much more about sports in a classroom environment than just on the field.
“We feel this is an innovative model and something that will bring value to both the nation and the applicants themselves.”
MCBS have already laid the programme’s long-term foundations via a Memorandum of Understanding with Kick Worldwide, a UK-based organisation that aims to build a football infrastructure in nations via grass root development of the sport.
“They are bringing the know-how to help us establish the facility,” Dr. Djordjevic explained.
“They will bring lecturers and we are also importing their programme to some extent that we will shape for the local culture. We had the idea, but they gave it the shape. Academics will also be provided by the MCBS’ partner institutions in the US, the University of Missouri and Franklin University.
“This course has a certain number of units, which can be taken out for a small certificate,” said Dr. Djordjevic. “Before the course opens for enrollment, it will be registered with the Ministry of Manpower and Ministry of Education. We’re also looking for international organisations to support this with accreditation.” And that’s not all. Land has been purchased behind the campus to build sports pitches for both recreation and training, and a sports lab is set to be erected in a new wing of the college.
Qatar 2022
“The World Cup played a big decision to start this course,” said Djordjevic. “I won’t say it was a major driver, but Qatar 2022 really helped the cause.”He added, “It’s six years from now, so we want maybe two or three generations of students graduating from this programme. The will be the ambassadors of this initiative and hopefully will play a large role, because I can’t recall any other major event that has been so big in the region’s history.
“We want this course to help people reach a level where they can live off of this,” explained Dr. Djordjevic. “You could be a coach, a sports consultant for clubs and it’s a nice addition to sports journalism. Sports is a big industry, and not just having the knowledge in your legs but in your head as well, means there is a plethora of opportunities for people.”
“Before, during and especially after the World Cup, there will be so many football schools opening in the region because of its influence, and the parents will want to enroll their kids in them, and there we see the opportunities open for people to get a job,” he continued. “Also, during the event, there is a lot of media coverage, a lot of analysis, and the entire industry in the Middle East grown all of a sudden in the last eight years, so many jobs will appear.”
“With their understanding of culture and flavour of sport on the ground, we’d want our locals to be employed. With this course, you have a window of opportunities to be supportive in many jobs. This course is not just about being commercial. It’s about giving something good back to the Omani people,” he finished.
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