1,029 compete in Bahrain Baby Games

Manama, Apr. 14 (BNA): Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) launched on Saturday the biggest children sports event in the Kingdom as the Second Bahrain Baby Games got underway at Isa Sports City’s in Riffa. Around 1,029 kids, including 563 representing 35 nurseries and 466 from 34 kindergartens are lined up for this event, organized by the committee for the second consecutive year in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labor and Social Development. This year’s edition features competitions for children aged from 3 to 5 year in four different sports – athletics, basketball, gymnastics and football. All contests in this four-day event are being held in the morning session at the three sports federations’ halls – volleyball, sports for disabilities and table tennis, all located at Isa Sports City premises. The opening ceremony, attended by BOC secretary general Mohammed Al Nusuf, Human Resources and Services Executive director , representatives of the participating nurseries and kindergartens, Ama Al Mansoori, started with a special acrobatic show by Layal Jehad of KJ Kids Kindergarten. This was followed by another show, presented by Wala Al Dossary, and a third demonstration by Fairytopia Kindergarten, while KJ Kids Kindergarten presented a special show using the five colored circles of the Olympics. Among other activities on the inaugural day were a below-12 months crawling contest, and followed by a below-15 months baby walking race, both of which came to the excitement and thrills of hundreds of parents in the stands. Late on, the parade of the participating nurseries and kindergartens while holding their respective identity banners amidst a big round of applause from the audience. After the parade, a couple of kids entered the hall while carrying the Olympic torch to mark the launch of the event, after the Games were officially declared open. In his speech, Al Nusuf welcomed the participants and stressed the importance of such an event, which is one of the Bahrain Olympic Committee’s major sports initiatives, a first of its kind in the Kingdom and perhaps in the Arab world, which aims at instilling a culture of sport within children and developing their mental and physical abilities. "The Baby Games has become one of the leading events on our annual agenda, thanks to the tremendous success of last year’s inaugural edition which was attended by a large number of participants and their keen families," said Al Nusuf. "We are so much thrilled for bringing the Baby Games for the second consecutive time here and I am personally confident that this year’s event will be another great success with all this love and cooperation we felt from different relevant authorities". The BOC secretary general concluded his statement by expressing his appreciation to all the sponsors for their support to the event, and commended the cooperation of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. He also thanked the kindergartens and nurseries for their keenness to take part this year.