First-class sport

Want to be a tennis star, a hockey player, or a golf pro? The academies at the $4-billion Dubai Sports City promise to deliver the world to you.

First was the sand. I remember driving down a route with a huge board proclaiming 'Dubai Sports City' was there for the dreams of a few.

However, when I went there last month to watch the inaugural Australia-Pakistan one-day cricket match, there was a huge queue of vehicles waiting to get into the cricket stadium, which looms large as you take the turn-off from Emirates Road.

It took me more than half an hour to battle the traffic to get inside. If this is any indication of success, Dubai Sports City has certainly arrived.

"This is the beginning of what was once a vision of Dubai Sports City," says Jeff O'Brien, academies manager, Dubai Sports City Academies.

"Slowly, all the hype and PR, all the dreams that fuelled Dubai Sports City are taking shape as you can see. From images on paper to actually seeing it rise in front of your eyes... that's really something. Dubai Sports City is one of the leaders. It is the cornerstone development of the Dubailand project, and the first one to become a reality."

It has been conceptualised as a city within a city, where sportspersons, both aspiring as well as established, can get everything they want or dream of at their doorstep.

From state-of-the-art sports venues and international sporting events to top-of-the-line sports academies, providing a platform for youth development, recreational sporting facilities, residential and commercial developments.

Together with all the related amenities expected in a purpose-built city, including international schools, medical facilities, hotels, community centres and entertainment venues.

Set on 50 million square feet of the Dubailand development, Dubai Sports City will, when complete, feature four stadia:

- A 60,000-seat multi-purpose outdoor stadium for rugby, soccer and track and field events

- A 10,000-seat multi-purpose indoor arena for hard court games, ice hockey, concerts and other events

- A field hockey stadium for 5,000 spectators

These will be in addition to the 25,000-seat cricket stadium that was the scene of activity during the Australia-Pakistan match.

The first completed facility in Dubai Sports City was the 18-hole championship golf course, The Els Club, Ernie Els' first golf course design concept in the Middle East.

By the end of this year, Dubai Sports City will be the centrepoint for world-renowned sporting academies including the first purpose-built Manchester United Soccer Schools facility, the International Cricket Council's own ICC Global Cricket Academy, the first Butch Harmon School Of Golf outside the United States, the first-of-its kind World Hockey Academy, and a David Lloyd Tennis Academy.

It will also include the Next Generation Clubs, a state-of-the-art health and fitness facility, as well as the Bradenton Preparatory Academy a college preparatory school which teaches students the American Baccalaureate Curriculum leading to an American high school diploma, with flexible timings for use of the academy's facilities.

"The Academies campus is key to to DSC Dubai Sports City," says O'Brien. "One of the reasons is that it provides a consistent field of progress with its playing fields and its training experts. Around 5,000 to 8,000 people will use the facilities on the campus every week. When all our facilities are in place, we expect around 65,000 people to be living in Sports City. A significant number of those people will be passing through the Academies campus."

Are the Academies only intended to benefit residents? "This is not a campus of facilities dedicated to an elitist audience. It is open to all, because that's what sport is. It has to transcend [such divisions] and it's part of what Sports City is all about. [You can] expect us to deliver on that count."

O'Brien doesn't think he needs to hype up campus facilities because he believes the campus includes many fantastic facilities.

He is chuffed about the World Hockey Academy, as it presents a challenge that's very real that of selling the largely unknown game to the UAE.

"What you see here today is the reality of what has been talked about all these years, and was revealed at the Australia-Pakistan cricket match on May 7 which was the curtain-raiser for Sports City.

"It's a fact that the Hockey Academy - in partnership with the Federation of International Hockey, the world governing body for the sport - will be first to open its doors this month," he says, adding that it will boast two international water-based pitches. "But, it's not so much about the facilities as to how they are going to be used."

In fact, the Sports City has chalked up a game plan to popularise the sport. Which is imperative considering the kind of investment being made.

"For instance, we will be taking hockey to schools, not only to government schools but also to private schools," explains O'Brien.

"We need to play an active role in developing the (hockey) culture in schools in the UAE. We need to bring sports within their reach and attract children to it from a young age. In many countries, sport can be your fortune. So, schools are a priority for us," he said.

Sports City will be the home of the UAE Hockey Commission, he says. "We are the campaigners of hockey as far as the UAE is concerned. We haven't been allocated the status of an association or federation just yet, but we are working towards that. As the Emirati spearhead of the game, we will host the World Hockey Federation, and we support them in their development of coaching programmes and help them deliver introductory courses to schools.

"To stimulate interest among the students, we will provide incentives and use our facilities as part of their physical education programme. Some of the expatriate schools already have hockey coaching programmes; what they need is a push, an opportunity, an open door to come through to us and use the facility. They will get it here."

The DSC had just signed a joint agreement with the UAE Hockey Committee and all the local hockey clubs in the UAE to give the sport the much-needed push.

"We know hockey is one sport that's kind of underground at the moment. We'll develop the training programmes through local clubs. It's a simple process, but not an easy one. But it's a part of our business model. So it's no coincidence that hockey will be the first sport to go 'live' in July, with the inauguration of the facilities."

What has already been successfully implemented at DSC is a soccer programme. Aimed at students between 6 to 18, it has drawn hopefuls from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and even from Qatar and Kuwait.

"We have been delivering the programme for the last three years and it has been extremely popular." "Essentially they grow up through the programme," says O'Brien.

But what excites him the most about the DSC's upcoming programme is SOCATOTS, 'a fun and lively, soccer-specific physical play programme for children from six months to five years. It encourages active and healthy lifestyles from an early age'.

"It's all about using football as a tool," explains O'Brien. "It teaches kids hand and eye coordination, and all the other basic skills to play the game. It's about using football as the base for overall development. The theory is, you start learning the craft as soon as you are old enough to stand up at around six months."

The SOCATOTS programme teaches basic ball skills, movement and co-ordination exercises in a fun and playful environment.

It is said to be a great tool to encourage toddlers to take their first steps to fitness. SOCATOTS is the brainchild of Simon Clifford, an English football coach who started the programme in the UK.

"What appealed to me about our Dubai Sports City partners was their complete belief in our programme and plans to take it to every pre-school child in the UAE. They understand how it benefits the child's development physically, socially and emotionally and they are building a fantastic facility to house it in their campus. We coach over one million children in 61 countries and I'm sure the UAE will be right up there amongst the best," says Clifford.

The courses extend beyond just physical exercise, and aim to improve balance and co-ordination, develop cognitive skills, enhance omuscle and bone development, increase self-confidence, and demonstrate the benefits of keeping fit through a number of learning exercises.

According to Clifford, research has shown that children who are physically active from a young age are more likely to have better concentration skills in the classroom, and this is the philosophy that underpins the SOCATOTS programme. It not only helps the child develop all-round if he or she is talented, it also ensures an induction into an early active lifestyle.

And it's the latter O' Brien wants to really emphasise. "Beyond all these amazing facilities and schools to hone your talent, Sports City is about competition and social interaction. It completes the circle of opportunity. It also gets the parents involved in their children's lives more actively, and this in turn gets them involved in other people's lives socially as they come into contact with people. Influence, leverage and connect. That's what this will boil down to."

It's perhaps the reason why, in addition to the sporting facilities, Dubai Sports City will boast major residential and commercial developments with all the related amenities expected in a purpose-built city, including international schools, medical facilities, hotels, community centres and entertainment venues. It will be a city within a city with sports and leisure activities as its baseline lifestyle.

As I step out of O'Brien's office, I see engineers conducting the final testing of the stadium infrastructure ahead of the opening. As around 365 floodlights light up the new venue, the skies turn grey.

The state-of-the-art lighting system that has been installed in the rim of the stadium roof, creates what an official describes as a 'ring of fire' which will light up the field of play.

The fall of light has been designed so as to eliminate the shadows of the players. As the officials run around making the final preparations, the ring of fire glows bright against the Dubai skyline. "A bright jewel," says O'Brien, "that's what Dubai Sports City is going to be."

What is SOCATOTS?

The SOCATOTS programme teaches basic ball skills, movement and co-ordination exercises in a fun and playful environment.

It is said to be a great tool to encourage toddlers to take their first steps to fitness. SOCATOTS is the brainchild of Simon Clifford, an English football coach who started the programme in the UK.

"What appealed to me about our Dubai Sports City partners was their complete belief in our programme and plans to take it to every pre-school child in the UAE. They understand how it benefits the child's development physically, socially and emotionally and they are building a fantastic facility to house it in their campus. We coach over 1 million children in 61 countries and I'm sure the UAE will be right up there amongst the best," says Clifford.

The courses extend beyond just physical exercise, and aim to improve balance and co-ordination, further develop cognitive skills, enhance muscle and bone development, increase self-confidence, and demonstrate the benefits of keeping fit through a number of learning exercises.

According to Clifford, research has shown that children who are physically active from a young age are more likely to have better concentration skills in the classroom, and this is the philosophy that underpins the SOCATOTS programme.

"It is more than just about football. It is an innovative concept where children can learn and play through sport and at the same time strongly invite parental involvement. This results in the development of a stronger bond between parents and children," says Ekta Hutton, assistant academies manager, Dubai Sports City.

"With SOCATOTS, no child is too young to learn, and through our qualified teachers, each toddler can gain a unique, fun, and constructive learning experience through the course offerings." The SOCATOTS programme will be launched later this year.