Kuwait initiative creates first sports clubs for women in the country

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  May 9, 2013: Kuwait's Qadsiya Club women basketball team listen to their coach, during the Women's Games, at Salwa Al Sabah Sports Center in Qurein, Kuwait. The event is part of a new initiative launching sports leagues for women, including basketball, table tennis and athletic leagues for the first time in Kuwait illustrating how the landscape for women athletes is improving across the Persian Gulf where hard-liners have long opposed women playing sports.AP

KUWAIT CITY –  Muneera al-Shatti  has loved playing basketball since she was a child but it wasn't until Thursday that she had chance to show off her skills at a public arena in Kuwait.

As part of a new initiative launching sports leagues for women, al-Shatti and her teammates from Salwa Al-Sabah club downed Qadsiya club 63-13 in a game that attracted several hundred men and female fans. The initiative to launch basketball, table tennis and athletic leagues for the first time in Kuwait illustrates how the landscape for women athletes is improving across the Persian Gulf where hard-liners have long opposed women playing sports.

Several of the players, in deference to the conservative Muslim culture that is common across the Persian Gulf, wore leggings and covered their heads with hijab. Others, however, wore shorts and T-shirts.

"A competition like this should have happened a long time ago," said al-Shatti, who has played in tournaments overseas and only heard about the league in her home country while playing in neighboring Bahrain. "But I am glad it finally took place. We've been trying to do this for a long time and they have promised that more sports will be included in future leagues."

Helped by government support, increased education and erosion of traditional values, football leagues for girls in the Gulf have started up in Qatar and United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia -- which long barred girls from playing any sports -- recently announced it would allow sports in private schools as long as they abide by the rules of Shariah, or Islamic law.

Saudi Arabia's decision is part of a wider package of reforms targeting women with the aim of ending discriminatory practices that have contributed to a host of health problems, including obesity and diabetes. The private schools' announcement also follows a decision last year in the kingdom to allow two female athletes to compete in the London Olympic Games following months of intense pressure from the International Olympics Committee.

Still, women's sports remain nearly an underground activity in the kingdom, which is home to Islam's holiest site in Mecca.  Only the largest female university in the kingdom -- Princess Nora Bint Abdul Rahman University -- has a swimming pool, tennis court and exercise area for its students. No other university in Saudi Arabia has sports facilities for female students and staff.

Women are also bound by strict rules when it comes to their attire, so they cannot, for example, be seen by men while jogging in sweat pants. Female athletes cannot register for sports clubs or league competitions. They are banned from entering national trials, making it impossible for them to qualify for international competitions.

Kuwait is typical of the struggle women have endured in the Gulf.

The 1970s were described as the golden era where women were allowed to freely participate in sports in Kuwait, according to Naeema al-Sabah, the head of the Women's Sports Federation. But in the ensuing decades, the influence of Islamic hard-liners grew in the country and sports for women all but disappeared. Hard-liners believe that sports will promote immoral behavior and uniforms inappropriately reveal female bodies.

The low point came a few years back when a Kuwaiti women's football team was publicly denounced after returning from playing a regional tournament in neighboring United Arab Emirates.

"We're taking baby steps toward progress," al-Sabah said. "As with any society that is religiously strict, we need to test the waters and take small steps. Everyone in Kuwait now values sports. You see people walking and jogging every day. There is this increasing interest in playing sports in general."

Al-Shatti said the best sign that things are changing was the number of women and girls who turned out for the basketball game. A music teacher who also cycles and jogs with her husband, al-Shatti is only hoping to get more chances to play.

"It felt like the first step toward a better future for sports for us here in Kuwait," she said after her team's victory.

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Taking the kids -- and eating healthier -- and better -- in ski country

I don't know where to look first.

Above us, constellations glitter in Utah's clear night sky. But right in front of us Chef Joe Walker lights up the backcountry another way -- by putting on a spirited fire show in the snow, twirling torches impossibly fast in each hand.

We snowshoed in under lantern light to the small yurt (no more than 20 guests!) at Solitude Mountain Resort for a five-course dinner (the $100 per person tab would have been considerably more in a major city) that was all the more impressive when Chef Joe explained that he cooked without electricity, starting with tomato black bean lentil soup, continuing with baby kale salad topped with salmon and goat cheese, pan seared scallops, duck breast with polenta and finished with a pomegranate reduction. Dessert? The best bread pudding I've ever eaten -- made with apple and topped with ice cream and caramel sauce.

Maybe you'd rather dogsled to lunch or dinner -- you can at Snowmass where you are served game and fresh fish. Boy, how food in ski country has changed -- on the mountain as well as off -- especially for kids.

Forget mac and cheese, unless it is homemade with local cheese. Forget chili, unless it's vegetarian or made with local grass-fed beef. The kids -- and you -- have your choice of free-range chicken, homemade soups, pizza baked in a wood-fired oven and quinoa salad, not to mention artisanal beers and spirits. (Even Park City, Utah has its own High West Distillery where, incidentally, kids love the food as much as the grown-ups. And no worries if you want gluten-free, vegan or vegetarian choices. "These days, they expect that we will have those and we are ready for them," at each meal, said Deer Valley chef, Jodie Rogers.

Gone are the days of overpriced greasy burgers and fries, says David Scott, the executive chef at Colorado's Keystone Resort, which is piloting the National Restaurant Association's Kids Live Well initiative for Vail Resorts this year. The initiative has been implemented across 120 brands and in some 33,000 restaurants around the country and is designed to get kids eating more fruits and veggies, whole grains and lean proteins while limiting fats, sugar and sodium. (Participating restaurants and their qualifying items can be found on healthydiningfinder.com and via a free Kids Live Well app in the Android Market and iTunes app store.)

At Keystone's Mountain House base lodge that means a chicken taco or teriyaki chicken noodle bowl at the Ripperoo Kids Station (designed so kids can reach to order themselves).

There isn't a chicken finger in sight. And with the scary statistics about childhood obesity -- the American Heart Association reports that one in three kids is overweight, leading to many health problems -- that's certainly a good thing.

"Kids are much more adventurous eaters and parents are looking for healthier options," David Scott, the father of a 9 year old, explained.

Chef Jodie Rogers notes that at the resort's multicourse Fireside Dining, kids are often more enthusiastic than their parents about the raclette -- the Swiss cheese melted over the roaring fire and served with boiled potatoes and an assortment of locally crafted charcuterie. All of the food -- from the veal and wild mushroom stew and fire-roasted lamb to the different kinds of dessert fondues are cooked over open fireplaces and kids love that they can pick and choose. (It's a good deal too at $58 for adults and $28 for kids under 12.)

At Snowmass' new on-mountain Elk Camp Restaurant with its killer views, kids can chow down on a kid-sized portion of freshly made rotisserie chicken and smashed potatoes rather than fries. There are lentil, couscous and faro salads on the expansive salad bar, as well as meatloaf made from Colorado grass-fed beef.

Ski school meals at a growing number of resorts have been overhauled to make them healthier too. Think baked potato and salad bar at Deer Valley, or a veggie burger at Smugglers' Notch (www.smuggs.com) in Vermont.

Hotels and fine-dining restaurants in ski country have gotten on the bandwagon too. Hyatt Hotels, which has recently revamped all of its kids' menus "For Kids By Kids," complete with a new kids' website to encourage healthier eating, now is offering complimentary tween cooking lessons with the chef to encourage kids to eat healthier. At the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa, the kids' menu includes whole wheat pasta, fresh crudities and shrimp skewers.

I love that Hyatt and Fairmont Hotels invite kids to order half-portions from the adult menu when possible. Fairmont Hotels also has recently revamped its kids' menus as part of a broad initiative to focus on healthier and locally sourced foods -- think Quebec pork filet with blueberries at the Fairmont Tremblant in Quebec, or broiled British Columbia salmon served with brown rice at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

At Stowe Mountain Lodge in Vermont, kids can even order the dish that won the Destination Hotels and Resorts 2012 Healthy Kids Recipe Contest -- Hidden Veggie Pepperoni Mac and Cheese.

Vail celebrity chef, Kelly Liken, meanwhile, known for embracing locally sourced and in-season ingredients and founder of Sowing Seeds, an edible schoolyard program, welcomes kids to her restaurant with a four-course tasting menu ($35) that changes with the seasons and is culled from the freshest ingredients, just like her adult menu.

"It is just the right amount of food for you to enjoy alongside of your family, without having to eat 'boring adult' food with them," she promises kids.

Can grown-ups have a taste?

Eileen Ogintz is a syndicated columnist and writes about family travel on her Taking the Kids blog. Follow "taking the kids" on www.twitter.com, where Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments.

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