HH the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Tuesday  led the National Sport Day (NSD) 2016 celebrations, which saw thousands of people participating in a variety of activities at various venues around the country.

HH the Emir visited Nomas Centre of the Simaisma Youth Centre in Simaisma and watched children enjoying horse riding, camel riding, tug of war, and traditional archery.

HH the Emir also participated in a football match and interacted with children and encouraged them to keep practising different kinds of sport.

Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development chairperson HH Sheikha Moza bint Nasser and other dignitaries led the NSD activities in Education City, which saw more than 10,000 visitors.

The NSD activities began with a march on the Doha Corniche, attended by dignitaries and representatives from ministries and public and private institutions as well as many athletes.

Different venues such as Aspire Zone, Katara, Doha Corniche, Education City and various sports clubs were abuzz with activities right from early morning. Ministries, public and private organisations as well as various expatriate communities organised several activities for their staff and families at these venues.

At Aspire Zone Foundation, HE the Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari and HE the Minister of Culture and Sports Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali led the activities and highlighted the importance of NSD. Dr. al-Kuwari along with other officials from the ministry walked around the park and motivated the participants. Aspire Academy, Aspetar and Aspire Logistics also were part of the activities.

Speaking to Gulf Times, HE Dr al- Kuwari said: “Health starts with well being, fitness and exercise. More fit a person is, the better it is for the health in general. This will help people avoid many lifestyle and chronic diseases. I encourage everyone to take part in physical activities everyday.”

At Aspire Zone, over 24 government and private organisations organised their sport day events and took part in many of the unique events such as Fun Run, Family Bike Fun, Zumba, Wall Climbing, Come and Try and Judo. Several thousands took part in the events and the entire area was crowded with visitors right from the morning.

At Katara - the Cultural Village, many organisations conducted their NSD activities with a large number of people actively participating. Several ministers and high ranking officials of a number of organisations were part of the celebrations at the venue which had events such as basketball, football and beach handball. There were also several athletic competitions and wellness displays, in addition to chess, biking, yoga, horse riding, film screenings and more.

At the Education City, the main attraction of the day was a 3km walkathon through the campus. The activities were mainly held at the Student Centre as well as the Oxygen Park and ranged from volleyball, basketball and football tournaments. There were also traditional games and group fitness classes such as carrom, tug of war, zumba and crossfit. In addition, events were also held for people with special needs, as well as ladies-only events.