Report by Mohammad Al-Enezi
KUWAIT, March 8 (KUNA) -- Spearheaded by Kuwait's Public Authority for Sport (PAS), the fledgling initiative "Kuwait Sports Day" is chiefly meant to promote and fan out the concept of community sports.
The move obviously reflects the Kuwaiti government's belief in the paramount significance of sports, as well as its endeavor to build a healthy society where people can enjoy environmental, mental and psychological support.
The initiative, whose activities are to start at the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway on Saturday, will be held under the aegis of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah.
Organized by the Kuwait Sports for All Federation, the effort aims at promoting the concept of community sports and attaining investment in human capital as a core pillar of sustainable development.
Commenting on this event, Deputy Director-General of the PAS for Competitive Sports Bashar Abdullah said the initiative is primarily intended to serve a set of goals, chiefly the dissemination of community sports culture.
Speaking to KUNA, Abdullah said community sports is a lifestyle adopted by developed countries with a view to encouraging people to do various types of physical exercises, leading to a healthy sustainable society.
This concept falls within the framework of the authority's vision of creating a sustainable sports environment in the country, the sports official remarked, hoping that the first edition of the initiative would come to fruition.
Deputy Chairman of the Kuwait Sports for All Federation Mahmoud Abul, also speaking to KUNA, opined that the "Kuwait Sports Day" is deemed a springboard for spreading the concept of community sports, commending the interest and participation of the country's senior officials, civil society and athletes.
Elaborating, he said the initiative includes several activities and events, primarily a 15-kilometer cycling race, with as many as 10,000 cyclists of all categories and ages participating.
The federation's official added that the event to be held every two years as a national sports day mirrors the country's interest in the promotion and encouragement of physical exercises nationwide.
For her part, Chief of the Health Ministry's Health Promotion Department Dr. Abeer Al-Bahoh spoke highly of the initiative as a positive step towards raising public awareness about sports. She underlined that the ministry attaches much attention to the necessity of disseminating health awareness and spurring society to have workouts in order to prevent going down with lifestyle-connected diseases, chiefly obesity.
Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Minister of State for Communication Dawood Marafi had announced the official launch of the sports initiative to be patronized and attended by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Dr. Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah. (end) maa.mt