BRIGHT SIDE: Nadia Rahim says more parents in Doha are becoming aware of the importance of physical activity for their children.     Photo by Umer Nangiana

Playball Doha helps children develop fundamental building blocks of sport,
agility, balance and co-ordination as well as the three key elements of physical
fitness, endurance, strength and flexibility, writes Umer Nangiana

To keep up with today’s technology driven, fast-paced world, a child needs to step into practical life with “confidence, independence and motivation to succeed.” Academic excellence alone might not inculcate in him these and other life skills. It has to be complemented by sports. So, let them “play ball” early in life.
Some 25 years ago in South Africa, they developed first children’s programme that recognises and actively incorporates necessary life skills through sport. Finding enormous success in its birthplace, the idea branded as Playball, quickly spread all over the world.
It arrived in Qatar more than six years ago and all this time, Nadia Rahim, a British expatriate and the Chief Executive Officer of Playball Doha, has been successfully running the franchise in Doha. She has currently more than 600 children between the ages of two and seven enrolled in the programme that, she says, has trained hundreds of children over the years.
“The aim of Playball is to expose young children between the ages of 2-7 years of age to constructive and enjoyable movement, as we believe that creating a positive attitude towards sport and physical activity at an early age is the key to lifelong participation,” she says.
More than what a preschool proposes on the academic side, this programme is said to offer learning opportunities and experiences to support cognitive, physical, social and emotional development of the child.
“We give them all the necessary life skills through sports. It is basic education like how to hold a hockey stick, how to play a tennis forehand and backhand, soccer and volleyball skills. They also learn how to work as part of a team and sportsmanship. And they get to know the meanings of these words as well,” Nadia tells Community during an interview about how the programme works.
Divided into different age groups, it caters to children 2-3, 3-4, 4-5 and 5-7 years old. Each of these programmes is tailor-made for the age groups and prepares children both physically and psychologically for the more advanced stages. The class sizes are smaller and the durations shorter.
“For the two-year-old, there are only six children in a class and it is non-competitive. We are teaching them basic skills and their parents are with them. Whereas for the three-year-olds there are eight in the class and the parents are not there because they are more independent,” explains the franchise owner in Doha.
Playball Doha helps children develop fundamental building blocks of sport, agility, balance and co-ordination as well as the three key elements of physical fitness, endurance, strength and flexibility.
The concept revolves around the idea of “physical literacy.” Like learning English or Mathematics, it is the learning of fundamental movement and sports skills that will form a solid foundation for sports participation.
Why is participation in sports important? The programme explains it with the science that drives it. Quoting findings, it says children who contribute in regular activity appropriate to their age, with the opportunity to strengthen their core stability (stomachs and backs), are able to sit better and concentrate far longer than those who are slumped because their lungs are not getting the same amount of oxygen to the brain.
A child’s gross motor skills need to be developed before their fine motor skills. Without fine motor skills, children will struggle to hold a pen, write, colour in a picture or tie their shoelaces. Body and spatial awareness is of massive importance as it helps a child understand where he or she is in relation to the world around them.
Bilateral symmetry (being able to use the left and right side of the body equally well) and midline crossing are vital for developing the neurons between the left and right hemispheres of the brain, which allows for far more effective learning to take place. Playball addresses all these developments.
“We basically want a kid to get the best in their early life. Not only is that the physical education important for physical aspect, it is also mental. It helps with reading and writing skills of the children,” says Nadia, who, herself is one of the coaches at the programme and actively involved in training children.
“Our programme is like building blocks, so when they are in their first class they have a strong foundation. Even their parents say they have more of a competitive edge over the other children in their class because of the play ball programme,” she reveals.
They keep changing and updating the programme constantly. The CEO of Playball Doha says it is not the same programme it was 25 years ago or even two years ago.
The class duration for two-year-old children is half an hour. One term lasts for 12 weeks and then the new one starts and then another for the 12 weeks before the programmes is completed.
“In Qatar, a lot of sports programmes are being decreased because academics are so stressed (for the students) these days so a lot of life skills and sports are squeezed aside over academic and, for me, that is a big issue because they should both go hand in hand,” says Nadia.
However, she says more and more parents are becoming aware of the importance of physical activity for their children, and if they are not available at the schools, the parents are arranging for it after school.
She says they are looking to have more playball coaches in order to expand the programme. At Playball Doha, the day starts very early in the morning because most schools start early. The children get a fresh and active start to their day.
Parents are informed about the progress of their children through report cards in term 2 and 3. They are not really marked for what they can do or what they cannot.
“It should never be like that. It is just a kind of estimation so that the parents know where the child is. We mark their skills and we tell the parents how they are doing in the class,” suggests the Playball Doha owner. The reports also help parents seek timely help if there are any alarm bells for any disorders.
Nadia says children need to start Playball programme very early in life. “The younger the children do this sort of physically activity and they get into the habit of doing it, there is more likelihood that they would do it when they are adults,” says Nadia, who has academic background in psychology.
“We are basically trying to teach them habit and let them gain the skills so that they can learn to love sports and we are doing it in a very non-competitive way,” says the Playball instructor.
The programme has children from all different backgrounds and nationalities. Initially, it was mainly Western expatriates who were more interested but over the past few years, things have changed. There is now a great mix of expatriates and local Qatari community members involved at Playball.
“We also have children who do not speak English come to our class and they also do the programme, so language is not a problem. We will do everything to teach them the skills,” says Nadia, adding that a lot local Qatari children are enrolling for the programme.
Through their Facebook page, Playball Doha try to educate parents about health and education, importance of sleep and the importance of taking a child individually and not comparing to others.
The programme has many campuses across Doha in Al Rayyan Village, Al Jazi Gardens and Al Jazi Village 2.