The tablets and gaming consoles usually win the school holidays. Coach Jonathan Fernandez watched that pattern play out in Dubai homes year after year — children parked indoors, parents scrambling for something, anything, to pull them off the couch. That observation became the seed for UIG Sports’ Basketball Summer Camp Programs 2026, a run that grew from one batch into two on the back of word-of-mouth alone.
Fernandez, who serves as head coach and chief executive officer of the academy, frames the camp’s purpose plainly. “We wanted to create a program where children could have fun, stay healthy, make new friends, and continue learning during the summer break,” he shared with TGFM. The gap he and his team set out to fill was as much about quality and cost as it was about keeping kids moving. He describes the offering as an affordable, high-quality program that pairs professional coaching with life skills — discipline, teamwork, respect, resilience, and confidence.
Steering that growth alongside the coaching staff is Romylene Julian Ibay, UIG Sports’ co-owner and business development manager, whose work has helped turn a single summer batch into a program families keep coming back to. That last point — the return rate — matters to how the academy sees itself. Fernandez believes sports carry real weight in a child’s development, and the camp was built so that every participant, in his words, feels “welcomed, challenged, and inspired to grow.”
The two batches ran at Dubai Sports World inside the Dubai World Trade Centre. Batch 1 filled through July 2026; the demand that followed pushed the academy to open Batch 2 in August at the same venue. Fernandez credits the growth largely to families talking to other families. Parents told him their children were eager to return each day and were showing changes at home — more energy, more discipline, less time on screens. “Much of our growth came through referrals from happy families,” he said, “and that’s the greatest compliment we can receive.”
A day at the camp follows a deliberate arc. Sessions open with dynamic warm-ups and movement work before shifting into skill development: dribbling, passing, shooting, footwork, and defense. From there the coaches layer in fun challenges, team competitions, and game-based learning so the children can put the fundamentals to use, closing out with scrimmages that reward teamwork, communication, and quick decision-making. Fernandez said the coaching staff works throughout to hold a positive atmosphere where every child feels supported and included.
The age range — five to eighteen — means no single approach fits the room, and Fernandez leans into the contrast. The youngest players learn through play, movement, and games that quietly build coordination and a love for the sport, with enjoyment taking priority over technique. Teenagers get the heavier material: strategy, conditioning, and competitive play. What stays constant across the ages, he said, is the aim of developing each child both as an athlete and as a person.
The academy has also opened its doors to children with ADHD, and Fernandez speaks about that work with evident care. Within a structured, supportive setting, he said, many of these young athletes have grown more focused, engaged, and confident over the course of regular training. He is careful not to overstate it — every child’s path is different — but calls it deeply rewarding to watch them build friendships and simply enjoy being active alongside their peers.
Ask him what the children take home when the camp ends, and basketball is almost an afterthought. Fernandez points to confidence, friendships, communication, and a positive mindset, alongside discipline, resilience, and the habit of encouraging teammates. He has seen the arc repeat: children who arrive shy or unsure of themselves leaving with a belief in their own ability and an appetite for the next challenge. Those, he said, are lessons that follow them into school and home.
The coaching pedigree behind the program runs deep in Philippine basketball. Fernandez himself played in the Philippine Basketball Association, suiting up for the Purefoods franchise that later competed as the B-Meg Llamados, after a collegiate career with the NU Bulldogs. The staff also includes Coach Jomari Sollano, a former NorthPort Batang Pier player who won an NCAA Philippines championship with the Letran Knights. That experience at the top of the Philippine game, Fernandez said, lets the team mentor young players with both technical depth and an eye for character.
For parents still weighing whether to enroll a child, his pitch reaches past the sport. “I would encourage parents to look beyond basketball,” he said, describing the camp as a place to help children become healthier, happier, and more resilient in a safe and welcoming environment. Beginners and experienced players alike are coached to their own level. And there is a point of pride he returns to: UIG Sports is a Filipino-owned academy in Dubai, built on the conviction that good coaching, strong values, and genuine care leave a lasting mark on a child.
The vision, as Fernandez tells it, was never really about the game. It is about a community where every child feels a sense of belonging and every family feels backed — and where, season after season, another group of kids trades the screen for the court and finds something worth coming back to.
