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Children in the kingdom will get a once-in-lifetime opportunity to meet sporting legends later this year as a three-day hockey workshop aims to inspire youngsters to pursue physical activity rather than electronic devices.
Jude D’Souza is bringing two giants of the hockey world to Bahrain during the first edition of his new Icons for All initiative.
Mark Knowles and Jamie Dwyer will be hosting clinics for children, adults and coaches from October 20-22.
The former is the current captain of the Australian hockey team, currently ranked world number one, while the latter is regarded as the greatest player of the modern era with both an Olympic and World Cup gold medal under his belt, alongside six Champions Trophy gongs and five ‘World Player of the Year’ crowns.
Bahrain Hockey stalwart D’Souza left behind his 15-year career in media and marketing to set up Clockwork, his new company which has the goal of engaging community through sport and music initiatives. The first of these is the field hockey-orientated Icons for All event.
He said: “I quit everything to start Clockwork to give back to sport, as sport has given a lot to me. I’ve always wanted to do something more and I have a history of working with children through sport with my hockey exploits, so it was the perfect fit.
“I’ve decided to see what we can do from a human development point of view. Kids don’t play enough sport and there’s a lack of inspiration, so we want to inspire them and the larger community.
“Lifestyles are faster these days and it’s easy to be hooked on an electronic device, but there is so much value in sport, not just from a competitive point of view but the values it delivers in terms of teamwork, friendship and physical well-being.”
The three-day programme will kick off with a focus on sport as a whole with a trip to a Bahrain school, where Knowles and Dwyer will address all of the teams and talk about the value of continuing to play. In the afternoon there will be a workshop for parents, not just to get them involved too but to drive the message that they should support a sporting routine for their children.
The second day will have a more specific focus on hockey itself. There will be junior clinics in the morning (free and open to all, provided parents register their children and they are aged between eight and 15) and then senior workshops in the afternoon which will involve teams from both Bahrain and the wider Gulf, who are travelling for this ‘once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn from the best’.
Finally, there will be a coach’s programme for those wanting to get involved from the other side of the white line. Knowles, pictured right, and Dwyer are fully-certified coaches, having established a company called 1and9coaching, and use audio-visual techniques with analysis to help people become better trainers.
The third day will consist of a breakfast with the two stars, and provide a chance for people to meet the champions of the game and inquire about their success in an open forum, ‘meet and greet’ format.
If all goes to plan, this will be just the tip of the iceberg as far as Icons for All and Clockwork go. D’Souza explained: “If we get these A-listed sporting icons to Bahrain regularly, it will inspire a new generation to take up various activities and continue with it.
“We’re trying to create opportunities which haven’t been available before. This is a first for Bahrain, and in fact, the genesis of this idea was me wishing all those years ago that I had the same opportunities when I was younger.
“We’re expecting Icons for All to be a rousing success, and we have a plan of doing a different workshop based on a different sport every four months. So we have hockey in October, and then we’ll look at basketball, football and more after that, all being well.”
D’Souza’s endeavours have already received the blessing of the Bahrain Tourism & Exhibitions Authority.
GulfWeekly will be providing full details of the workshop in its Leisure Guide once they are finalised.
