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Work hard, Duplay harder

A new sports league in the city is offering a different but fun alternative to the usual gym and clubbing routine

QUESTION. HOW do you spend your evenings? Going to your favourite 'joint', lazying around, meeting friends over coffee or drinks?

A lot of expatriates meet up at their clubs particularly on Thursday or Saturday night as these are the biggest nights of the week for socialising. The city is a fast paced, hard working, young, pulsating place and the nightlife purely reflects the vibe of Dubai.

But with increasing cases of obesity and diabetes, isn't it time that we changed this routine and looked for something different and healthy to do? Here's the deal. Duplays, which is a short form for Dubai Plays, is an organised recreational sports league that is looking to create an alternative to bar lounging and clubbing until the wee hours of the morning.

Billed as 'an exercise craze to shake up the average gym routine', this concept is aimed at giving you a good starting point for getting out there and finding an alternative beneficial social niche. Even for those gym enthusiasts, you can opt to switch to a different kind of fitness regime.

"If you always do the same workout, your mind and your muscles get bored," says Davinder Rao, co-founder of duplays.com. "But sport is different because you never know which direction or plane your body is going to be required to turn, jump or run. The duplays concept is attempting to simulate that, and it can only be a good thing," he adds.

Exercise crazes change as quickly as fashion does and the latest fad in the city is sports. Whether it's soccer, beach volleyball or hockey, the league provides a setting for people living in Dubai not only to build their social network but to enhance a pro-active, fit and healthy way of life.

While people partake in team sports, they are able to exercise in a way that is more interactive, fun and team building than simply going to the gym alone. The method tests different muscles and challenging reaction times and spatial awareness, to simulate the unpredictability of sport.

"Workouts like this can be great confidence builders," says Davinder. "Sports," he says, "Can benefit your general fitness from being very chaotic, ever changing from one workout to the next, yet unpredictable in its direction and purpose. Your mind and your muscles never know what to expect, and the idea is to get fitter and smarter at the same time."

The duplays league currently offers a mixed Ultimate Frisbee and Football for people of all abilities wishing to play on Tuesday evenings at the Metropolitan Hotel outdoor fields on Shaikh Zayed Road, (second Interchange, near Dnata). The last two weeks have attracted an overwhelming number of participants as the league has already registered over 120 members. The Ultimate Frisbee (affectionately known as just 'Ultimate') combines non-stop movement and athletic endurance of soccer with the aerial passing skills of American football. A game of Ultimate is played by two 7-player squads with a high-tech plastic disc on a field similar to football.

The object of the game is to score by catching a pass in the opponent's end zone. A player must stop running while in possession of the disc, but may pivot and pass to any of the other receivers on the field. It's governed by the tradition of sportsmanship that places the responsibility for fair play on players rather than referees.

Beach volleyball and field hockey are also two sports that the league is looking into setting up. Duplays.com offers a choice of team sports that people living in the city have enjoyed playing on a recreational level back at home, school or college but may not have found so easily accessible in Dubai.

Most of the leagues are co-ed and self-officiated. Some of the single-sex leagues are officiated. Ravi Bhusari, other co-founder of duplays.com explains: "The league also acts as Dubai's one-stop portal connection active, enabling like-minded individuals to post their own sports events."

"While sports teams may be looking to set up their own league, they would benefit from registering on our website. Duplays.com offers them better exposure in so that they can attract the team sports enthusiasts to join their league," he adds.

So while the scorching summer draws to a close, and where the outdoor temperature has dropped to pleasant conditions, you might want to think about how else you could better use your days in a city with clearly much more to do. It's just a question of finding it.