How do you get kids moving? ‘New sport is a combination of exercise and gaming’ | Healthy

Dodgeball with a digital sauce, is how Michael Reibestein describes Hado. A little over a year ago, he saw a video of the originally Japanese sport on Facebook. “I texted the link to friend Michiel Verhage with the text: ‘Shouldn’t we do this in the Netherlands’?”

The two got into the car and drove back and forth to the French capital on a Thursday. ,,A trip to Tokyo to play Hado there was not possible because of corona. Fortunately, a Hado arena had just opened in Paris where we could play it a few times.” The two were immediately sold. “We made a business plan and were selected to introduce the sport in the Benelux.”

And so Hado was launched in the Netherlands last week. At least, officially. The first Hado arena opened in September last year. “But because of corona it was open, closed, open, closed,” says Reibestein. ,,The goal is just like with the gym class of the past”, says Michiel Verhage, also co-founder. “Knock out your opponent.”

Yet there is a big difference. ,,Two teams of three players each compete against each other in a real location. But the ball and the obstacles like the walls are virtual.” That hybrid form is exactly what distinguishes Hado from virtual reality. “Everything is digital. Hado is the first augmented realitysports in the world. It is a digital layer over reality. That makes it a combination of exercise and gaming.”

Such a game element is very important according to sports coach and behavioral scientist Johnny Buivenga. “Pleasure is an important predictor of whether people will continue to exercise.” He sees it when he gives a boot camp with monkey cage and dodge ball. “People were completely absorbed in it, it brings out the child in you. If you start moving because you enjoy it, you will want to go again next time.”

More exercise is good for everyone, but especially for young people. “I’ve always had a lot of fun playing sports,” says Verhage. “It is painful to see how structurally children do not move enough. Of the 12 to 16-year-olds, only 40.7 percent meet the exercise guideline, according to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). In that age group, 16 percent are overweight.

Physical consequences often overshadow the mental consequences, says Verhage. Such as less social contact or in a more extreme case: loneliness. According to Buivenga, every person has a need for autonomy, but also for connectedness. “They can be at odds with each other. On the one hand you want autonomy, being able to choose for yourself and being on your own. But you also want connection. If you have too much of one of the needs, you will desire the other need more. While gaming together can also bring about feelings of connection in some way, everyone ultimately longs for real social contact.”

How strong this need is is shown by the fact that someone can also feel digitally excluded. In one experiment, a subject was placed in a brain scanner. “He was told that there were two more test subjects in a scanner,” says Buivenga. ,,The three had to virtually throw a ball. At a certain point, the other two only started throwing together. The test subject was locked out and the scanner showed that areas of the brain became active that also light up when there is physical pain.”

More than a quarter of 12 to 16-year-olds play games every day, and those who do, do so for at least four hours a day, according to data from the Netherlands Youth Institute. Due to the high fun factor, gaming can become part of the solution, says Vehagen. Hado ensures movement and social contact, says Buivenga. “The step from gaming to a more hybrid form can even be a stepping stone for young people to start practicing other sports.”

Hado is now played in 35 countries. The goal of Reibestein and Verhage is to open a hundred arenas in the Benelux as quickly as possible. “Many participants are important for competitions and tournaments,” says Reibestein. In addition to young people, these are members of the sports and fitness platform OneFit. “One week a boxing lesson, the next week Hado.” In addition, Reibestein sees room to offer Hado as an alternative to the well-known company outings and children’s parties, such as karting and the escape room.

The first Dutch Benelux Cup will take place in September. ,,The winning team can participate in the European championship”, says Reibestein. “The three teams that do best there can participate in the world championship in Tokyo.”