A group of Dubai-based young adults are launching a sports camp to help children heading back to school combat bullying — by playing quidditch.
Titled Camp Play, it is an initiative of the Pull Up Project, which was set up by a high-school team of basketball players from the Winchester School Dubai to combine their love for sport with socially rewarding causes.
Aaron Ferns, who founded the project with Soehl Abraham, Fahad Al Bloushi, Faizal Razak and Sumayah Mirza, said in a statement: “I was never a victim of bullying, however I have witnessed it and it isn’t pretty. What I have witnessed firsthand is that being a part of a team does not just mean you make new friends, it means you have a team behind you no matter what... so kids need to build their support system. We don’t want kids to just stand by during the act of bullying, but to stand up, stand strong and stand together against it.”
Visitors to the camp will be able to boost their self-confidence and fitness through sports such as football, basketball, yoga, dodgeball, table tennis, badminton, volleyball, human foosball, broom ball — and quidditch, the game invented by author J. K. Rowling in her Harry Potter books.
Camp Play will be held from August 14-25 from 10am-2pm at Dubai Sports World in Dubai World Trade Centre. Children between five and 14 years of age can participate for Dh350 per child. For more information, call 056-9412548 or write to thepullupproject@gmail.com.
