Dubai: The mission statement says: “To keep our students happy and healthy, whilst we motivate them to become confident, capable artistic gymnasts and to promote the benefits of gymnastics for general fitness, health and well-being.”
Welcome to the world of Shams Gymnastics Club, where a former junior national champion from Syria and a few Olympic hopefuls from Lebanon, Great Britain, Puerto Rico and even the UAE train to make their dreams come true.
Nurturing their desires to dream big is coach Shams Hawksford, a former gymnast from Turkey. “Gymnastics is the most basic activity needed by youngsters from an early age, irrelevant of what sport they should want to pursue once they grow up,” she explains.
“Gymnastics sets you for life. You get body strength, balance, flexibility and agility that are so vital in sports. It’s like you do gymnastics and you are set for life,” she adds.
Shams should know better since she was regional champion in her native Turkey. Her ability to match her talents suffered after an appendicitis surgery laid her low and, just as she was making a comeback, she was diagnosed with hernia, which all but put an end to her Olympic dreams. “Gymnastics never left me. I was even more passionate about my sport as I sought out avenues to reach out to youngsters and coaching became a huge part of my life,” she said.
At the Al Safa indoor hall, tucked in a quite corner off the Safa Park, Shams’ class comprises students of different age groups: the youngest is a little over four years and the oldest is 16. They meet six times a week with Saturday mornings being the busiest as they go about their routines on the high beam or the rings or the vault or just plain floor exercises under the watchful eyes of highly-qualified coaches from Syria, Algeria, Great Britain, Russia, Romania and Tunisia.
“We’ve taken great care to ensure we don’t exceed eight kids per coach during training. This not only helps the children focus, but also assists the coach in paying proper attention to all the kids easily,” she says.
STRUCTURED TRAINING
Shams ensures proper planning the previous night itself so that coaches have a structured training programme that needs to be followed the next day. It’s not only training as students are encouraged to participate in the six odd inter-club competitions held at the facility. In addition, there is a fair bit of travelling for competitions mostly in Bahrain or Qatar. “Just practice is not enough for these future champions. They also need to have some self-worth and confidence building by participating in serious competition and having this spirit of challenge,” she observes.
A few of her wards are already proud winners. Emirati Shamsa Bin Sulayem may have just celebrated her seventh birthday and she is already in possession of five medals in her age category. “I want to win more medals for the UAE,” she says.
16-year-old Christopher Ramez Helou Decos, already among the best gymnasts in the Gulf region, is toying with the idea of choosing between Puerto Rico [his mother’s birth place] and his native Lebanon. “Eight hours a day is what I will have to put in at training and I am ready for that,” Decos says.
“This summer, I will be back in Puerto Rico and I hope to improve on my skills by attending training camps there,” he adds.
His constant training companion is a chirpy 14-year-old British lad Connor Eaton, who is looking to make the national squad at the 2020 Olympic Games.
Then there is 15-year-old Sarah Shehadi, already an elite level gymnast who could soon turn up for Lebanon at the next Pan-Arab Games. Joining her quest, though on a different continent could be Great Britain’s Charlotte Mackie, who one day dreams of having her own coaching facility, but only after winning at an Olympic medal.
“Each of them has their dreams and their goals. We are here to only support them by giving them the right training support. And though gymnastics is the best activity to prepare kids for a secure sports future, we are well aware that once you fall in love with gymnastics you are here to stay,” Shams says.
