Qatar’s innovative Kun Riyadi (Be an Athlete) programme concluded a successful first year with a festival hosted by the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) and Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoE). The first phase has seen more than a thousand students aged 0-7 years old from schools and nurseries across Qatar participate in sport in a joyful and supportive environment.
Qatar’s unique Athlete Development Pathway (ADP) aims to produce Qatar’s future sporting champions by focusing on sports development at every stage from early childhood to post-retirement. The first phase, ‘Quality’ has been rolled out over the past school year and is directed at children up to the age of seven in nurseries and schools across Qatar. It aims to instil enjoyment and interest in sport from the earliest possible age through exploratory sessions.
Commenting from the end of year festival, QOC secretary-general Jassim al-Buenain said, “We are extremely pleased by the success of the first year of our Kun Riyadi programme and by the number of young children that have been introduced to the raw fun and enjoyment of sport. This is key to ensuring that children will continue to participate in sport long into the future. Our ambition is to continue introducing more children to more sports so that every school child in Qatar has the opportunity to participate and develop through sport. We thank all of our stakeholders and partners for their support in ensuring a successful start to the programme and we look forward to watching it continue to grow and prosper over the years ahead.”
Held in the Recreation Centre of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, the end-of-year festival saw schoolchildren demonstrate what they have learned over the school year with Team Qatar gymnasts Ahmed Nabeel and Jana al-Kiki, and Team Qatar swimmer Abdelaziz al-Obaidly, on hand to inspire the schoolchildren with their skills.
Commenting on the end of year festival, QOC’s Sports Affairs director Khaleel al-Jabir said, “The first phase aims to develop motor skills that are useful for running, jumping and throwing later on in young athletes’ lives and we have been able to see the positive impact that the programme has had on our young children. We are very proud of what it has achieved.”
The ‘Quality’ phase was rolled out across three sports – gymnastics, athletics and swimming, supported by coaches from Qatar’s national federations. Additionally, inspirational field trips to Qatar’s state-of-the-art equestrian centre, Al Shaqab and the Lusail Shooting complex enabled schoolchildren to be educated in new sports in an engaging and practical way. The programme also helped break barriers by using sport as a tool to engage everyone in the society, including children with autism.
It is expected that further national federations will be involved in the programme in the next academic year, including the Qatar Tennis Federation. The vision of Kun Riyadi is to expand and grow until eventually all schools and sports in Qatar are involved by 2022.
Qatar Foundation’s (QF) Pre-University Education (PUE) has been an active and effective partner in the roll-out of the programme, and as an act of gratitude and appreciation for their support, the QOC presented the equipment and tools used for the athletics activities to QF’s PUE to use in their own educational programmes.
Abeer al-Khalifa, Executive Director of Academic Affairs, PUE, QF, said, “We’re proud that our students are taking part in such a great initiative. Kun Riyadi aims to inspire interest in physical education at a young age amongst students, as well as teaching them to adopt the constructive values that come along with it like teamwork, co-operation and social unity; those are the values we are keen to encourage and instil in our students’ education as well as in their upbringing.”
The Qatar ADP is a five-stage model that provides a comprehensive framework for developing skills at critical periods in an athlete’s development from early childhood to post-retirement. The next phases after Quality see participants aged 8-12 develop a foundation of different skills to serve them in a range of sports, before a tailored programme is provided specific to children’s individual needs from 13-18 years of age. At 19, tailored practice, training, competition, and recovery regimes and provided ensuring that athletes maximise their potential. The final stage of development ensures that athletes remain active after their careers and impart their knowledge and experience to future generations participating in the pathway.