HUNDREDS TAKE THE FIVE RINGS CHALLENGE

An initiative supported by the Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC) to encourage youth to embrace sport and healthy activity has attracted hundreds of participants, with plans now in place to make it a long term project.

The Five Rings Challenge is held every Saturday morning in Al Hussein Park with participants aged 18-30 invited to discover sport in a new and fun way.

Created by a small group of young volunteers and managed by the JOC’s Knowledge, Training and Education Department, the challenge sees the volunteers engage with other young men and women to learn, play and have fun with sport during a two-hour session.

“It is proving to be very popular and so far more than 420 young people have taken part,” said Narin Hajtass, the JOC department’s manager. “It is a new approach to promoting sport and healthy activity among this important age group and follows the lead from the Association of National Olympic Committees who wants to create a new strategy to engage with the youth.”

“Many of the people that have participated have not even played sport before and they enjoy it because they are learning from volunteers that don’t have a professional sporting background.

“It also encourages volunteerism as well as positioning sport as fun and social.

“The JOC has a vision for sport to play a key part in the lives of all Jordanians and this is a way of getting people more active.”

The sessions consist of a warm up followed by fun introductions and games of football, volleyball and basketball. They conclude with a debrief segment where key messages are shared about the power and benefits of sport and healthy activity.

Participants come from a variety of organizations and backgrounds, including some with physical and mental disabilities, with numbers increasing week on week.

Such has been the success, the JOC is now considering extending the project beyond its initial plan to finish at the end of this year.

“It is working very well and becoming a popular Saturday morning attraction down at the park. The feedback is very positive too so we will look at continuing again after the winter,” said Narin.

If you are aged between 18-30 and would like to take the Five Rings Challenge, contact the team through their dedicated Facebook page on OVEP Jordan.