The Municipality of Abu Dhabi City (ADM) has partnered up with DUPLAYS to introduce community sports services along the Corniche. [from Abu Dhabi Week]

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

We want to hear from you. Tell us what you liked or disliked from your last DUPLAYS league, event or class. Just like in sports, we can only improve if you tell us the parts we need to get better at. Click “Submit” below when you’re done.

DUPLAYS was proud to organize the largest 3-on-3 tournament in the Middle East at NBA Jam Fest Abu Dhabi 2010. Over 3 days across 5 divisions, 128 teams and 490 players hooped it up.  Special guests included NBA Legend Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon , Knicks “City Dancers”, Bucks “Rim Rockers” and Pacers mascot “Boomer.

Below are some photo highlights
2 hour Youth Clinic (120 12-17 yr old players)

Boys (24 teams) & Girls (8 teams) divisions

Women’s (16 teams) division

Men’s (64 teams) & University (16 teams) divisions

Check out even more on our Facebook page (3,300+ fans!)

Introducing something new to the Abu Dhabi Corniche… DUPLAYS very own “home court” for beach sport and activities in the capital.

The Abu Dhabi Beaches Sports Park officially opens next week — October 3rd.  Sign up online as an individual or with a group of friends/colleagues to start playing.

Update: we’ve put up photos, a list of leagues and activities, a map and more are at duplays.com/corniche

Press release:

DUPLAYS to launch Abu Dhabi Beaches Sports Park (ADBSP) on October 3, 2010

For the first time in the capital, Abu Dhabi beaches will have organized sports and other activities during weekday evenings.

DUPLAYS, in cooperation with Abu Dhabi beaches, has developed the Abu Dhabi Beaches Sports Park with a goal to activate the Corniche and improve activity levels in the city.

DUPLAYS is looking to drive over 1,500 participants to the beach on weekday evenings through both team and individual sport activities for men and women of any skill level.

DUPLAYS.com, the central website where anyone can sign up to join, will offer many team sports such as beach volleyball, beach football, beach netball and beach rugby. In addition, training classes for yoga and pilates among others will also be offered.

DUPLAYS, the UAE’s largest sport and social club with over 18,000 members, in an effort to increase participation, will offer unique nights to allow networking at a professional level through social and healthy activity. Tuesday nights will have beach volleyball for teachers and Wednesday nights will be a social night for new residents looking to get out and get active.

One of the more unique offerings will be “Monday night, Ladies night” where women from the city can come out, play and be active in a women’s only environment. On Monday nights, the Abu Dhabi Beaches Sport Park will be reserved only for women’s activities with female administrators, referees and trainers.

Looking to get active? Go to DUPLAYS.com and sign up for your sport, evening of play, skill level and let DUPLAYS do the rest. Don’t have a team? Don’t worry. Sign up as a team or as an individual and come ready to play. To find out more, email corniche@duplays.com. Private court bookings are also available via http://duplays.com/corniche.

Derv Rao
Co-founder & Director of Operations
Duplays Sports Services JLT

Time Out Dubai recently came down to Barasti Bar for some summer beach volleyball action in Dubai.

Dubai’s brave fitness fans head down to Mina Seyahi every Wednesday night for Duplays’ 10-week beach volleyball league. We went to watch and were soaking within the hour, so imagine the players – some had trouble with ball handling as arms and hands were so slippery from sweat. The night ended with a casual half-hour of play, which was our favourite part: pop to Barasti, hit a ball or two, pop back to Barasti – our favourite kind of exercise. Fancy playing? The next league starts mid-September: see duplays.com.

Check out the feature on Time Out Dubai’s website and see all 11 (sweaty!) photos from the night.