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Write-up from Sport 360: “Brazilians Display Silky Samba Skills in Dubai” by Reem Abulleil

Brazilian teams stole the show at the Footvolley World Cup UAE 2011 yesterday, stunning the crowds with some mind-blowing skills at Jumeirah Beach Residence.

The sport which combines both football and volleyball originated from the beaches of Brazil and it’s no surprise they came to Dubai with nine teams in total, five men’s and four women’s.

The day started with group stage matches that were left over from Thursday, before things heated up in the last 16.

All five men’s teams from Brazil were placed in one group, which meant that Group A saw the hottest matches of the tournament. Brazil1 and Brazil2 advanced to the last-16 before they dominated in their matches against Netherlands1 and England2.

Both Brazilian teams will face-off again in the quarter-finals today.

“It’s always very tough to face another Brazilian team,” said Brazil1 star Piao. “But we are looking forward to a good match and we are hoping to give the crowd another entertaining match.”

The ladies of Brazil wowed the audience with two exhibition matches, and one of the contestants, Vanessinha, who has been playing footvolley for 11 years, said she was amazed by the reaction from the stands and how far the sport has come.

She said: “It’s so amazing to see footvolley here, and seeing people watching with surprised eyes. It makes me feel really happy because footvolley was created in Rio and now to see it being played here in Dubai by all these people, it’s just great.”

The tightest affair of the day was between Paraguay1 and Portugal2, where Paraguayans Victor and Oddi pulled off a terrific comeback to win 23-21 and book themselves a quarter-final spot against their compatriots Jesus and Quicho (Paraguay2), who beat Netherlands2.

“The tournament is number one, it’s very special,” said Victor. The UAE team comprising of Jamal Seif – also the tournament director – and Mohammed Rashed Al Sewedy had lost all their group stage matches the previous day to Spain, Norway and Uruguay, but Seif said he finds solace in the fact that the tournament has proven a big hit amongst both the players and the spectators.

“I would like to apologise for our level in the matches, but if we are talking about the level of organisation, we have done a fantastic job.

“The feedback has been great and the players and their teams explicitly told us that this is the best footvolley event they have attended across the world,” said Seif.

The UAE team is ranked 11th in the world and have won some impressive matches prior to the World Cup but unfortunately could not replicate that form in Dubai.

Alongside the FootVolley World Cup, DUPLAYS organized a 2 day beach volleyball tournament – JBR Beach Sport Fest. Enjoy these photos of the action:

DUPLAYS handled everything from planning, ticketing, and promotion to setup, manpower, event day management. Want DUPLAYS involved in your next large scale event? Contact us at info@duplays.com.

Enjoy these photos and videos from the game below:

For more, here’s the event page on facebook:

Classic (intense!) battle: Yosuke vs Was

3-way FINAL battle: Sean (France) vs Rene (Germany) vs Petike (Hungary)

In addition to the 24 world-class freestylers, 15 UAE freestylers competed with Bilal (video below) winning top honors as the UAE’s Best Freestyler.

Battle: Yorok vs Bilal

Fifty teams also competed in an intense 2v2 football competition. Congrats to Daredevils for their victory of Sustainable Energy — who beat team “S3” composed of top freestylers Sean (France) & Bencok (Belgium).

Daredevils vs Sustainable Energy

Sustainable Energy vs S3

S3 vs Egypt! (don’t miss Bencok’s crazy goal at 4:15 mark)

Use this window below to navigate through the full 50 video playlist

A quick visit to the 14th floor offices of Duplays in JLT reveals a business environment as fresh and as active as the company’s central nervous system, a website chocked full of sports league games scheduled across the UAE in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

Soccer balls, basketballs, Frisbees and giant Duplays banners punctuate the office where Canadian founders Ravi Bhusari and Davinder “Derv” Rao work daily to build up the company.

…

Duplays is doubling in growth every year from 5,000 members in 2008, to 10,000 members in 2009, and to its current roster of 20,000.

“We arrived at 20,000 members as of December 31, 2010 and our goal for 2011 is to double that to 40,000,” Rao said.

Rao said the hard work to start a company from scratch is paying off judging by the numbers.

…

Hillary Lawson, 29, is a Duplays client who says mixing her love for sport and socialising has found a home in the sports company.

When Lawson moved to Dubai two years ago, the financial analyst was like many expats and eager to meet others shortly after arriving.

“When I moved here, I didn’t know anyone,” she said.

Lawson discovered the Duplays website after a Google search and joined amateur volleyball and ultimate Frisbee leagues offered in Dubai.

“I love sports to meet new people. It’s the best way to meet likeminded people. There are new faces every year,” said Lawson.

Duplays is helping expats to bridge barriers by using sports as a touchstone for people from different cultures to meet and interact, she said.

“Duplays is doing a very good job of organising sports. They’re appealing to the many nationalities here,” she said. “People are always looking for something new to do.”

Roxanne Brouille, 33, a real estate consultant, has been a member of Duplays since the early days of the company and values her weekly volleyball and Frisbee games.

“There are all age groups, professions and nationalities,” said Brouille. “The one thing we have in common is sports. Duplays has helped me feel a bit more well rounded because I have friends from many nationalities.”

Brouille looks forward to regular amateur games not only as a way to keep a body healthy, but to also stay in touch with new friends in a city that can be a very transient place.

“I look forward to my weekly appointments with my friends,” Brouille said. “I’ve made some really good friends, I’d say 20 or 30, from playing sports.”

• 1st, 2nd, and… 3rd Beach Games
• 4 corporate “Beach Games” events: DPG, Brooks Multiplex, Lloyds TSB,  Johnson & Johnson
• Snickers World’s Longest Football Match 42 hours 5 minutes = new Guinness World Record!
• UAE Nations Cup by Gillette 48 teams from 27 nations playing  5v5 football over 2 days
• 1st investor in DUPLAYS
• 1st office opened at JLT
• 4 corporate leagues (ADAT, Standard Chartered, Al Tayer Group, ADIB) plus 1st sector league
• 1st facility to call our own: Abu Dhabi Beaches Sports Park with 4 beach volleyball courts+
• Presented at Abraaj Capital’s awesome Celebration of Entrepreneurship 2010
  • won “Pitch your business” contest before panel of VC judges/audience
• NBA Jam Fest Abu Dhabi 2010 5 divisions, 128 teams, 490 players over 3 days
• 1st title sponsor: Al Nabooda Automobiles VW
• 4 new full time team members (Suraj, Katie, Raza, Maz), doubling our full time staff
• 10,241 new members, doubling+ from 9,760 on Jan 1, 2010 to 20,001 on Dec 31, 2010

And that’s not to mention the heart and soul of DUPLAYS: our social and competitive sport leagues in the UAE. Thanks 2010 for being so good to us, and thank you for your support!

Here’s to a great 2011!

Officially opened this month, the Abu Dhabi Beaches Sport Park (ADBSP) forms part of a broader strategy to help improve the health of the capital.

The beach in front of Gate 4 (Al Sahil) of the Corniche has been transformed into courts and pitches where, under DUPLAYS management, residents can participate in a variety of sporting activities, including volleyball, football, dodgeball, netball, and beach cricket, as well as yoga and Pilates.

“At DUPLAYS we’re really excited to be powering the Abu Dhabi Beaches Sport Park which brings more opportunities for residents to get fit, healthy and engaged in their community,” said Derv Rao, co-founder and Director of Operations at DUPLAYS.

“The Abu Dhabi Beaches Sport Park has professional sports lighting so night-time play can continue year-round, even as day time temperatures heat up. We’ll continue as many activities as possible through the summer months, but why wait until then. Now is the perfect time to come down and play!”

For more information, visit http://abudhabi.duplays.com. From there you can sign up for your preferred sport and skill level and DUPLAYS will do the rest.

Are all of the services free at the park? Where do charges apply?

DUPLAYS sports leagues currently run from Sunday to Wednesday at the park with Monday dedicated as a ladies only night. Our sporting activities include more traditional sports like netball and volleyball as well as more unconventional games like Ultimate Frisbee. We also run individual sports like yoga and aerobics. Our sports leagues run for 6-12 weeks and cost between AED 300 to 500 per person for the season. That equates to an average of AED 35-50 for each game. So basically visitors to the park can enjoy improved fitness and health and grow their social networks for the cost of a movie and popcorn.

The standard beach park fee of AED 10 per person per visit is required to access the Abu Dhabi Beaches Sport Park.

The courts are all sand-based and are also available for private use at a charge of AED 100 per hour.

Does DUPLAYS have any other projects planned in Abu Dhabi?

DUPLAYS is actively pursuing community partnerships at every level to support our mission to build a healthier tomorrow. Increasing physical activity is a societal issue, not just an individual problem. It demands a population-based, multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary, and culturally relevant approach. We are in discussions with education groups to improve physical activity levels among UAE youth. We are also initiating an inter-university sports league between and within Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah.

Who is your target audience – young, very young, old, local, expat?

Our sports leagues are accessible, affordable and available to men and women of all nationalities and levels of fitness. Sports leagues are restricted to those 18 years and older, but the Abu Dhabi Beaches Sport Park is open to all ages for private use. As part of our partnership with the Municipality of Abu Dhabi we want the park to be a platform where community spirit and civic engagement can thrive. It is important that we encourage families with children to use the park and enjoy the facilities too.

For ‘sports’ novices will there be hands-on training events?

You don’t have to be an athlete to participate in DUPLAYS sports leagues. We don’t run any specific training events for our members, but we do make sure our leagues cater to all skill levels. We offer recreational and social leagues as well as competitive leagues and play an active role in helping our members join the right league for their level of sporting ability. We also take into consideration cultural sensitivities and potential barriers to participation. One of our main aims is to make our sports leagues easy to discover and join.

Will each group be allotted set times to use the facilities and where can they find this information? Can people hire courts, pitches for private games?

The Abu Dhabi Beaches Sport Park is one of the venues we use in Abu Dhabi to run our DUPLAYS sports leagues throughout the week. The park is also available to individuals, teams or companies who wish to book a court for private use. Court reservations are definitely encouraged to ensure court availability. A court reservation booking form and further information about the facilities can be found on our website, www.duplays.com. The website is not only a great resource for interested users, it also has a strong social networking focus. Members can continue their connections with each other away from the courts and pitches through various social media channels. This is a great way for our members to swap sports stories, share photos from the games and make or strengthen friendships.

What kind of facilities will be available during the summer months, or will the park be closed at this time?

The Abu Dhabi Beaches Sport Park has professional sports lighting so night-time play can continue year-round, even as day time temperatures heat up. We’ll continue as many activities as possible through the summer months, but why wait until then. Now is the perfect time to come down and play!

http://abudhabi.duplays.com

Additional media coverage

• The National: “Beach sport park in league of its own” 2-Jan-2011
• AMEinfo.com: “Abu Dhabi Beaches Sport Park opens at the Corniche“
• The Gulf Today newspaper: “ADM introduces new sports services with community health at heart“
• Abu Dhabi Week: “DUPLAYS on the beach” (reprinted above)
• Akhbar Al Arab newspaper Arabic article (image above)
• Al Ittihad newspaper: Arabic article
• UAE Connectors: Arabic article
• Eye of Dubai: Arabic article
• Yahoo Maktoob: Arabic article
• Al Wahda newspaper: Arabic article