ORGANISERS of the charity fundraiser Against The Clock (ATC) are challenging teams to compete in 10 new physical and mental games this year.
They are bringing back two popular games - balloon chase and balloon pi–ata - but all the others will be new, said ATC committee president Maysa Hubaishi.
The games are a range of physical and mental challenges that have been designed by the Rotaract Club of Manama-Salmaniya during the last five months.
"One of the games is a mind maze that they need to get through using a pulley," said Ms Hubaishi.
"We have a kind of table football where players will be guided by team members using a string to score the most goals in the allocated time.
"We have a slope that will be covered in plastic and soap and team members will need to stop at specific points to gain points.
"There is a game where they have to balance water from one place to another without spilling any.
"The teams aren't playing against each other, but against time, so all the scoring is concerned with how many points they get in a specific time."
Ms Hubaishi said teams could score a maximum of 20 points per game, but each team had a joker which they could use at any time during the competition and this would double their points for that game.
She said this year the club had introduced yellow and red cards which would be used if a team cheats or behaves badly.
A yellow card halves a team's points for that game and a red card gives them zero points.
Twenty-five teams, including two of Rotaractors from the Middle East, have already signed up but there is still room for 11 others.
Registration is BD350 for each team of six and one substitute.
Teams must register under the name of a company, university, society or organisation.
Trophies will be given to first, second and third team winners and awards for the best-dressed team and the team with the best cheering crowd are also planned.
ATC is organised by the Rotaract Club of Manama-Salmaniya and held under the patronage of Royal Charity Organisation chairman Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa.
The event, which is now in its 14th year, will be held at the Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, on May 29, from 10am to 9pm.
Alongside the event will be stalls, games and face-painting for children and DJ Jackson Productions will provide entertainment.
Ms Hubaishi said the club is hoping to raise BD20,000 for local charities.
She said the money raised last year was used to buy education materials for Alia for Early Intervention children and equip Salmaniya Medical Centre's awareness centre with laptops, projectors and screens.
"ATC is a family carnival with activities for everyone - children and adults," said Ms Hubaishi.
"Everyone is taking part to raise money for local charities.
"In the first year of ATC, there were eight teams and it was held in Awali, then it moved to Al Bander with 20 teams and in 2006, it moved to the BIC and since then we have got no less than 30 teams.
"It's such a popular event and we get so many enquiries throughout the year - a lot of people look forward to it.
"Even though it is in the heat, it is a fun day for companies. It's team-building and builds leadership skills."
ATC is taking place this year ahead of the 32nd Rotaract 2450 District Conference, which will be held in Bahrain from May 30 to June 2.
Forty Rotaractors from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Cyprus, Armenia and the UAE and 25 from Bahrain are attending the conference.
It will be chaired by Rotaract Club of Manama-Salmaniya former president Ghazi Farhan.
The event is held to commemorate the end of the Rotaract year, to discuss achievements and to present awards to those who excelled.
To register for the ATC or to sponsor the event, contact Ms Hubaishi on 36468988.
becky@gdn.com.bh
