The shutdown of school sport and sporting academies in the UAE should not mean students have to miss out on their share of physical activity.
Athletes in Schools has set the challenge for children to keep active every day by posting a simple set of activities. AIS event director Umar Hameed said it seemed a logical path to take after the KHDA put in place measures to stop the spread of COVID-19.
“Keeping active should be the priority for everyone. Healthy body, healthy mind. And we don’t think there is an excuse, not being at school definitely isn’t an excuse. It’s all about mindset,” he said.
“The idea first came about when Dubai Sports Council advised that all sports providers stop all activities.
“We though that just because kids are at home doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be active. We already do all the activities we have suggested as part of the challenge so we’re just encouraging parents and children to take the steps and do them at home.”
Hameed put the call out to more children to find some space and complete the exercises.
“We have so many children doing them at home but we could certainly do with more children doing them. It’s picking up momentum,” he said.