Aryan with his Spartan Kids Trifecta medal and three Spartan Kids Race medals. — Photos: ISKANDARSHAH JAHAN ABU HURAIRA
IT IS only natural for Nur Aryan Asyraf Iskandarshah Jahan, 9, to be the sportschild that he is. After all, he has his father’s and sister’s footsteps to follow, which he did, with impressive results.
The Year Three pupil of the Integrated Special Education Programme at SK Lanchang in Temerloh, Pahang was recognised last year as the only Malaysian child to achieve 2023’s Spartan Kids Trifecta. It is a medal given to any child who completes three Spartan Kids Races in a year.
Spartan Kids Race is the children’s version of the adult Spartan Race, a race made up of a series of progressively harder obstacles that comes in three varying distances.
Aryan, as he is fondly called, first raced at the Sarawak Spartan in Miri last May, before heading down to Singapore for his second race last August. He capped the year with Spartan Kuala Lumpur last October.
Aryan’s father, Iskandarshah Jahan Abu Huraira, 43, was a regular Spartan racer and trail runner until an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury forced him to retire.
“To lose the excess weight I gained when I became sedentary as an adult, I took up Spartan Race and trail running. But in 2019, I took part in so many races they took a toll on my knee. In November that year, I underwent a surgery and discovered that my meniscus was badly torn. Since then, I had difficulty walking comfortably for an extended period,” he says.
Now, Aryan’s older sister, Putri Nursyafina Aleeya, 15, is the family’s sports torchbearer. She is active in martial arts and trail run, and has recently gone into open water swimming.
“Aryan knows I used to run and race. In fact, he has watched me participate in Spartan Races and numerous trail runs. But, the one he idolises is his sister; she is the most important person in his life,” says the self-employed father-of-two.
“Putri is Aryan’s training buddy and sparring partner for both training and race since I am no longer as agile as I used to be,” Iskandarshah says.
Aryan during one of his Spartan Kids Race.
Not your regular child
Not naturally active, the boy was five when his parents realised that he was unlike other children his age. “He didn’t talk as much as other kids and didn’t respond to us either. Because of these traits, we consulted a paediatrician at Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz UKM ,” Iskandarshah says.
Two years ago, the doctor confirmed that Aryan has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with learning disability and developmental delay. “This means although Aryan is nine years old, he acts and thinks like a four-year-old,” he adds.
Since Iskandarshah enjoys sports, he decided to use it to get Aryan active and to have him interact more with other people. “We introduced him to a number of sports like rugby, swimming and fun run as some kind of therapy,” he says.
Aryan’s first foray into sports was at Bunga Raya Rugby Academy, an academy for children where he trains together with other children. “This was when we noticed that he enjoys strenuous physical activities,” Iskandarshah says.
This encouraged him to enrol Aryan in swimming class designed for special needs children. “We were happy when his swimming coach said that she was both surprised and impressed at how quickly Aryan mastered swimming,” says Iskandarshah, adding that his coach now focuses on training him for competitions.
“We hope he will be able to compete in swimming meets in future, like his sister,” he adds.
Iskandarshah says Aryan has problems focusing and needs help to keep his eyes on the game. To prepare Aryan for his Spartan Kids Race, Iskandarshah signed him up for community training every Friday evening at the compound of National Stadium Bukit Jalil.
“The most challenging part about these sessions is Aryan’s short attention span, except on days that he really wants to train,” he says.
The family moved from their home in Kuala Lumpur to Lanchang, Temerloh, after Iskandar’s wife, Roslina Yunus retired from the army. The couple do not mind making regular trips to Kuala Lumpur for their children’s training. “We treat the kids’ out-of-town races and tournaments as family holiday,” he adds.
Aryan with his mother, Roslina (centre) and sister Putri Nursyafina Aleeya.
Making his mark
Aryan showed tremendous improvement during his first Spartan Kids Race. Not only has his social skills and focus improved, Iskandarshah says, Aryan is also beginning to be more expressive with his emotions.
“He shows how much he likes being with his training mates and coaches, and he expresses excitement at all the encouragement and support he gets from others,” he adds.
Aryan was so proud to receive the Spartan Kids Trifecta medal, Iskandarshah says, that he walked on stage to receive the medal all by by himself, which is a big improvement for him.
“He didn’t want us to go up the stage with him like we used to. I think it just showed that his confidence has improved and we are happy with it,” he says.
Aryan is happiest when he trains, his father says. “This is especially so in swimming classes. When he is happy, he has less tantrum.”
He says Aryan looks forward to his weekly training session, and always asks his parents about the next one, or the next Spartan Kids Race. “Sports help make him active and physically fit. Some kids with ASD tend to be overweight, so sports is our way to help him manage that.”
His parents do not set any target for Aryan when it comes to sports achievement. “Our only wish is that he can be independent and will require little to no support from others when he is older,” Iskandarshah says.
Iskandarshah at Warriors Challenge 2018 before his injury forced him to stop running races.
Special needs kids and sports
Although they still could not believe how Aryan has improved within a short span of time, both Iskandarshah and Roslina hope parents with special children get their kids involved in sports.
“Some parents are not so receptive to this idea. We tried persuading other parents to let their children join Aryan but their response was not so encouraging,” Iskandarshah adds.
“Sports can be therapeutic for these children. The activities give them a chance to socialise with others and to be part of a community. Not only will their involvement benefit themselves, it also allows the community to see what these kids are capable of.
“I share all of Aryan’s activities with his schools – current and former – as our way of thanking his teachers for all their support and help. I hope that other parents will see how beneficial the activities have been for Aryan’s health, fitness and general well-being,” he concludes.
