When we think of competition, we think of it in terms of competing and striving to defeat the other team but an NGO recently held a unique competition that worked to bridge gaps between the blue and white collars workers in the city.

‘Smartcup’, an initiative started by NGO Smartlife in 2010, became one of the most awaited cricket competitions and events among workers because of its very aim of breaking barriers among segments of the society and helping labourers educate their children back home.

With the tagline ‘cricket for a cause’, the competition saw a total of 20 teams comprising 80 corporate and more than 100 blue collar workers participate in the cricket competition held on 25 November 2016 at Insportz, Al Quoz. Narendra Raj Bohara, a native of Nepal and captain for the blue collar team, thinks this is the best way to promote the talent amongst them. He said: “We are working very hard to win this match. I pick and drop the members of team and then we practice for at least 2-3 hours daily after our jobs.”

Another Indian worker Mahendher Markanti said: “I have never played cricket, have seen it only on TV. I can’t express the joy right now. Maybe I can show it on the field when I will hold the cricket bat.”

Like him Sandeep Pal Singh who works as security guard and is new to Dubai is waiting to experience the event for the first time but calls himself a skilled cricket player. Singh said: “I am from Jalandhar, which is known as the sports city in India and I have grown playing this game. I am happy that here I got the chance to take part in a cricket competition.”

But, for Abdul Anas, a security officer, this was the second year at the competition. He said “I am equally excited as I was last year, playing cricket is always fun and when it is played for a noble cause then the value of the competitions increases automatically”.

The match started at 9am and the cricket carnival went on till 5pm followed by prize distribution and fun activities.

According to Manjula Ramakrishnan, spokesperson of Smartlife, there are two kinds of winners in the Smartcup competition. The first variety of winners is those who win the top places in the tournament. But another proud winner is the team that won the ‘Played for the Cause’ award.

Ramakrishnan feels cricket nurtured the harmonious sporting spirit and brought them all together. She also highlighted that the part of the funds generated from the event will support the project ‘Sapna’ from Smartlife that offers educational scholarships to the children of the blue collar workers in Dubai. It aims to fulfil a dream of labourers here by funding and mentoring their children in their home countries.