RGS Dubai Extends ISD Dubai Sports City Partnership with New Seven-Year Deal

Royal Grammar School Guildford Dubai and ISD Dubai Sports City Build on Five Years of Sporting Success with New Seven-Year Agreement

Royal Grammar School Guildford Dubai (RGS Dubai) has entered a new seven-year partnership agreement with ISD Dubai Sports City, building on a successful collaboration that has supported the school’s sporting journey since opening in 2021.

The renewed agreement further reinforces RGS Dubai’s commitment to sporting excellence, pupil wellbeing and community engagement, while providing students with continued access to a wide range of premium sporting facilities at ISD Dubai Sports City. These facilities support curriculum PE lessons, extracurricular activities, performance sport, training sessions, fixtures and major school sporting events throughout the academic year.

The partnership provides RGS Dubai with dedicated access to a range of facilities across the ISD Dubai Sports City campus, including indoor training domes, outdoor pitches, athletics tracks, tennis courts and the school’s recognised “RGS Rugby Park” venue.

Approximately 700 pupils use the facilities each week through curriculum lessons, before-school ECAs, sports training programmes and competitive fixtures. The venue also supports the delivery of up to three-and-a-half hours of timetabled PE and sport each week, with facilities accommodating sessions for up to 180 pupils at a time as part of the school’s wider PE programme.

Matthew Pearce, Principal of Royal Grammar School Guildford Dubai, said: “We are delighted to strengthen our long-standing partnership with ISD Dubai Sports City, which has become an integral part of the RGS Dubai experience and our wider sporting programme. A truly well-rounded education extends far beyond the classroom, and this collaboration has created exceptional opportunities for our pupils to develop confidence, resilience, teamwork and character through sport, all within an inspiring environment that reflects the ambition and values of RGS Dubai.”

Daniels Petrovs, CEO of ISD Dubai Sports City, shared: “Renewing this partnership for a further seven years reflects exactly the role we believe ISD Dubai Sports City should play in this region. Dubai Sports City is home to a community of over 8,000 students, and we sit at the centre of that. That comes with responsibility, and it comes with opportunity. Sport shapes young people in ways that go far beyond performance, and the schools we partner with are how we fulfil that belief at scale. RGS Dubai has been part of this community since 2021, and this renewal is a commitment to deepening that relationship and to what we are collectively building here for the long term.”

The partnership has also helped establish RGS Rugby Park as a recognised venue for Dubai Affiliated School Sports Association (DASSA) league fixtures and school sporting events, with visiting schools regularly competing at the site throughout the rugby season. The professional-standard environment and dedicated facilities have further strengthened RGS Dubai’s growing reputation within school sport across the UAE.

In addition to weekly fixtures and training, the facilities have enabled RGS Dubai to host large-scale sporting events, including senior school sports days and regional competitions such as the BSME Games.

James Bennett, Assistant Head of Co-Curricular and Partnerships at Royal Grammar School Guildford Dubai, commented: “What makes this partnership so impactful is the consistency and scale of opportunity it creates for our pupils every single week. From hosting major fixtures and tournaments to delivering high-quality daily training environments, the facilities allow our students to experience school sport in a truly aspirational and professional setting. The partnership has become an essential part of our enhanced sports provision and plays a significant role in supporting both participation and performance sport across the school.”

The renewed agreement also creates opportunities for future expansion across sporting activities, school events and wider community engagement initiatives.

Combining more than 500 years of heritage from the Royal Grammar School Guildford in the UK with a modern, forward-thinking approach to education in the UAE, RGS Dubai continues to place sport at the heart of school life. Through a broad programme of PE, competitive sport and extracurricular activities – supported by both ISD Dubai Sports City’s facilities and outstanding on-campus amenities including a 25-metre swimming pool and FIFA-approved football pitch – pupils benefit from a dynamic and well-rounded sporting experience both in and beyond the classroom.

For more information about The Royal Grammar School Guildford Dubai please visit, https://www.rgsgd.com/ and for more information about ISD Dubai Sports City, visit https://isddubai.com/.