Lebanon hosted the first Middle East North Africa Under-14s 9s over the weekend, with seven schools taking part in the two-day tournament that saw British International School of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, crowned champions.

Tripoli City RLFC U14s, Zeheriyeh Boys High School and Balamand High School from Lebanon; BISJ, American International School of Jeddah and Jeddah Prep & Grammar from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; and Al Jalil UNRWA School representing Palestine faced off on 28-29 May.

A lush, green Bhamdoun stadium awaited and with the sun belting down the young guns were primed to show what they can do on a rugby league field. With Jeddah Prep beating Balamand 16-14 in the opening game, the tournament was underway. As the competition wore on, BISJ, JPGS and Al Jalil showed their class and it looked likely the champion would emerge from this trio. AISJ quickly became the neutral’s favourite by showing that size does not matter in rugby league, continually cutting down their bigger opponents in a brave all-round display. Watched by United Nations officials who are supporting the development of Palestinian rugby league, Al Jalil UNRWA School, drawn from one of Beirut’s Palestinian refugee camps, became the hot favourites behind a rock solid defensive wall, which was cracked for only 16 points after they played all their six first-round games.

It took the very last of the 21 groups games before the final four picture was clear. Up to that game, AISJ, Balamand High School and Tripoli City U16s were all locked on equal points and it was the little underdogs, American International School, who squeezed through to join their fellow Saudis and the Palestinian boys in the semi finals. In the first semi final, with the majority of the ball, Jeddah Prep & Grammar were just unable to get over the try line. Starved from the ball, the Palestinian defence would not crack and Al Jalil was the fist into the final with a well deserved 10 – 0 win. In the second semi final, AISJ did what they had been doing all tournament and just kept on punching above their weight. However, this time their massive hearts were not quite enough and they went down fighting to BISJ 6 – 0.

The final was an exciting affair with Al Jalil UNRWA School taking first blood when Samir El Soury scored out wide. After a great tussle in the middle of the field and their defensive wall looking unbreakable, El Soury crossed for his second and it seemed game over. But by missing both conversions and leading only 8 – 0, the British School was always in with a chance. Omar Istanbouli crashed through to give his team hope. With the conversion unsuccessful, the Palestinians only had to control the ball with time running out but things started to go sour for them and when Ahmed El Obeid, the player of the tournament, crossed over, the scores were locked at 8 – 8. Omar al Riza proceeded to coolly kick his team into the lead for the first time with 60 seconds to go, and secure the MENA U14s 9s crown.

Saudi Arabia can now claim to be the region’s pace-setter in boys rugby league, with BISJ’s victory coming just two months after the Saudi Schools Select won the MENA U16 Championship in Beirut.

Tournament director Remond Safi was bullish after the tournament: "I would like to thank all parties involved for making this such a successful event. The foundations have been set for many events in the future, which will see the game spread across the Middle East attracting new countries, schools and teams. It was such great atmosphere seeing so many kids running around the pitch with different languages spoken but all speaking the common language of Rugby League."

Player of the tournament: Ahmed El Obeid (BISJ)

BRITISH INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL JEDDAH
Hakim Al Muktar, Abdullah Kebbeni, Karim Baassiri, Badr Al Banawi, Ahmed El Obeid, Adam El Zain, Omar Ali Riza, Rami El Howel, Sleiman Al Suleiman, Rajan Mahfoudi, Youssef Safadi, Amir El Husseini, Omar Istambouli, Omar Al Fadl
Coach: Dave Kinkead

ZEHERIYEH BOYS
Ahmed El Sheikh, Taha Khayal, Wassim Fayad, Jalil Ismael, Yehya Elwan, Mohamed Kaddar, Ali Khouyled, Oussama Assad, Bashir Abed El Rais, Houssam Abed El Rahman, Oussama Yehya, Mohamed Assad, Ahmed Ayad
Coach: Nader Moughayet

JEDDAH PREP & GRAMMAR SCHOOL
Bashir El Sawaf, Abdullah Al Moudi, Mohamed Manna, Mohamed Sillah, Omar Abbas, Mohamed Abdul Karim, Walid Mufti, Ahmed El Moughali, Steven McCormack, Zi Yao Lin, Mohamed bin Qadra, Luka Malfari, Saeed Qatariti, Gaith Ghalayini
Coach: Chris Ratcliffe

AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL JEDDAH
Ahmed Kanaani, Aaron McGrath, Ibrahim Bala, Kamal Aswad, Omar Billeh, Raji Taraby, Talal Mourad, Yong Min Park, Ghazi Abou Zarif, Marco Rumhein, Qusay Freihat, Lucas Ocampo, Michael Van Reenen, Abdulrahman Sherbatly
Coach: Shaun Nichols

TRIPOLI CITY RLFC U14s
Yehya El Houssam, Ibrahim Ibrahim, Taled Al Ahmed, Ahmed Turk, Ziad El Zabbi, Khaled Masri, Omar Marhaba, Zhakaueh Amr, Abed Rahman, Moustafa Qassam, Mahmoud Hassan, Omar Allaf, Jihad Hamzi, Mohamed Hussein, Mohamed Habchiti, Abed Karim, Saeed Al Bourani, Ayman Abed Latif, Ahmed Ziad.
Coach: Ryan Tout

BALAMAND HIGH SCHOOL
Mario Fadel, Georges Farah, Fawaz Abdo, Fouad Nasr, Peter Fahed, Nassim Youssef, Danny Brahim, Georges Yazbek, Michel Shami, Ayman Sultan, Danny Youssef.
Coach: Darwich Darwich

AL JALIL UNRWA SCHOOL
Hamze el Mordea, Kassem Balkess, Khaled el Sheikh Issa, Sleiman Roza, Mohammad Izdahmad, Ali El Mordea, Samir El Soury, Ibrahim Najamy, Ali Menawy, Majd Abo Raya, Khaled Khalil, Refaat el Haj Hasan, Hadi Abo Shindy, Mohamad Abo Rdainy.
Coach: Ahmad El Masri