JEDDAH, 11 May 2007 — Young minds and bodies need stimulation. It is a fact that patterns of behavior are laid down by repetition and learned far more quickly and ingrained more deeply when the learning is done in a pleasurable environment. The effect is multiplied when all the senses are brought into play during the learning process — aural, visual, tactile and kinesthetic.
So, staring at satellite television, setting a fantasy world to rights by killing off the opposition in a videogame or aimlessly driving about the Jeddah streets literally looking for trouble — a.k.a. “something to do” — will probably teach something. Whether it will produce a productive and focused citizen is wide open to speculation.
“Well, it didn’t start off with that in mind,” said Kareem Linjawi, the very fit and personable coach and operator of the Red Sea Football Club. He was referring to the development of positive attributes of teamwork, discipline and the ability to “take a knock without complaint and getting on with the job” that derive from his training program at the Red Sea Football Club in Jeddah.
“It started from my love of physical sports and a lifetime passion for football,” he said, “and a passing thought during a kickabout with some young family and friends. I wondered how many others would like to do this but never get a chance?”
The answer, it turned out, was; a lot. It tapped into a rich seam of bored young people who wanted something other than the standard sedentary life and who were willing to have a go at football.
Linjawi invested SR6,000 in footballs, training bibs and equipment and in a year’s rent for a grassed football pitch in north Jeddah. “It took a whole year to commit me to finishing the job,” he grinned. Spreading the word among family and friends that the club existed at least in name, youngsters trickled in to soak up the basic skills and physical training Linjawi offered.
And just like Topsy, “it growed.” Soon Linjawi was able to organize several competing sides within the club and now has enough to form a small league.
Amu Kareem or Uncle Kareem as he is respectfully known to the young members soon reached the limit of his training knowledge. Committing to the club full time, he traveled to the UK and took a Football Association coaching course, returning with a new level of competence that he now shares with his club.
“The kids seemed even keener than I was to play and learn,” he said. The main purpose of the club, he said, was simply to offer an opportunity for fun, playing a safe physical team sport in congenial conditions. “However, the byproducts are extremely valuable.” One was unexpected new physical horizons.
Now five years old the club still retains many of its original members. Fifteen-year-old Muhammad Binladin, who was involved in the original kickabout, said football was his game but from the association with the sport he had developed a second passion; running. He saw himself as an athlete who played football.
Linjawi listed the physical benefits of stamina and healthy exercise along with discipline of training; the development of the ability to work together in a team and not necessarily be the star; and the development of the ability to be a good loser. “Perhaps even more important is the ability to be a good winner,” he said. “I detest it when a winning team rubs the faces of the losers in the dirt. Sure, winning is important; winning with the grace to acknowledge the other team did their best and that they should be respected for that is more so.”
Winning at all costs, he opined, was to lose the lessons that could be taught by hard fought competition. “That way you lose respect for the efforts and qualities of the other players.”
Not in the business of producing new football stars, Linjawi admitted that it would be a fine achievement to have schooled a future international player. This, however, was not the purpose of the club.
“Skills and sportsmanship,” responded 14-year-old Hashim Attar reflecting on what he got out of the club. Fifteen-year-olds Ribal Al-Khatib and Abdul Malek Bin-Shihon agreed, putting sportsmanship first on the list after fun and fitness. Five-year members of the club, they have all considered taking up the game professionally — but think it more likely that they will end up as football playing businessmen, or engineers. “It will still be our game though,” said Al-Khatib.
“It’s more about having fun and getting the benefits I did and using them in your life,” concluded Kareem. “It’s about life-skills I suppose. They don’t come with grade point averages and no one formally examines you, but you are tested on them every day.”
