More and more youngsters turning to indoor sports

TO KEEP themselves engaged and entertained, more and more youngsters are turning to indoor sports in Qatar.

With only one amusement park and a few playgrounds, and a hot weather most of the year, the new generation seems to have found its escape in the ever-increasing choices of indoor activities.

These days the toddlers entertain themselves at indoor theme parks that have mushroomed in shopping malls, while the teenagers and youths use the billiard, pool, network gaming and bowling clubs as their favourite hang-out ‘joints’. “After my parents read about the news of a 13-year-old Internet addict in China committing suicide in an apparent attempt to rid of his obsession with online games in 2005, they don’t allow me to stay on the computer for too long anymore, and TV has way too many ads that I don’t like,” said Sami, a 17-year-old boy.

“So l made a deal with them, to let me go to the neighbour­hood billiard club for an hour a day with my friends.”

He pays QR 15 for another hour of play since he has no time restriction by parents due to the winter holidays.

His friend, 16-year-old Ahmed agreed: “We used to play soccer out on the road in the quite afternoons, but lately we haven’t been able to go there due to the ever increasing traffic. And there are not many parks in Doha. If there are any, it’s not like we can pick up the ball and show up there, since they have certain days reserved for families, for women etc.”

Besides, with the number of such recreational spots on the rise, we simply have more reasons to frequent them, they said.

Once inside a club, the real world shuts out for a while. Loud music, low lights, rows of billiard tables, hundreds of wall-mounted sticks, snacks and a lot of smoking.

A customer can choose to play a game on hourly basis that generally ranges from QR15-30, but could go to as high as QR55 at some places. Most of the clubs also allow youngsters to sign up as members at discounted rates. There are also upmarket billiard and snooker facilities in places such as Dana Club, Al Waha Club, Al Ghazal Club and Doha Club, along with a number of hotels, all offering billiard tables and numerous other indoor activities.

Members, who usually pay annually for the privilege, are allowed to bring in guests and enjoy the game as long as they want, for nothing extra.

“I can’t remember the time since I have been playing American pool in these clubs. We used to have a community club centre with all these facilities in the compound in Aziziyah. But now that we live in a stand-alone villa, I come to this place with my friends almost every other day,” said Waleed, who was inside one of the three major billiard houses on the Airport Road, that also sell equipment.

Talking to Gulf Times, an official of the shop claimed that business has been picking up of late with “more customers visiting us and new billiard clubs sprouting all over the city.”

“We have some 21 tables to play on, and there are days especially on weekends when we close our play area at 5am instead of the stated 2am. We also sell tables, balls, and sticks. There has seen a sharp increase in the number of buyers over the last 12-months,” she said, while pointing to a billiard table with a price tag of QR30,000, which according to her was ‘negotiable’.

She said her company had sold some 30-40 billiard tables so far this year that cost anything from upwards of QR10,000 to either private clients or commercial entities.

“More and more private customers are coming in now days to buy these tables for either their city houses or the getaway farm houses in the suburban areas,” she pointed out.

While most indoor sports are experiencing a surge in popularity in Qatar, it is bowling that’s leading the way.

Speaking to Gulf Times, technical committee member for Qatar Bowling Federation (QBF) at the Qatar National Olympic Committee (QNOC), Ali Sikandar, described the increase as ‘huge’.

According to him, climate was a major reason for the sport’s popularity, as during the summer months, people can still go and bowl in an air-conditioned facility. Another reason is the price of bowling, which at QBC is a mere QR8 for non-members and QR6 for members per game.

“The renovated QBC, which boasts of a state-of-the-art 32- lane with the latest LCD counters, is a great hit with the local and expatriate populations,” said Sikandar.

“The QBF also has plans to build a gymnasium near QBC and bring back games such as table tennis, air-hockey and baby foot, that were gone due to the space issues during the Asian Games,” he added.