Where work is also play

This much I know The former professional basketball player, Oxana Yakubina, tells us about the successes and challenges of her new life at the Abu Dhabi Ladies' Club.

Squash coach Oxana Yakubina has aspirations of visiting every country in the world.

Oxana Yakubina, 26, is the activities co-ordinator and squash coach at Abu Dhabi Ladies' Club. I have been working for the Abu Dhabi Ladies' Club for two years. I arrived in the UAE four years ago from Ukraine, where I was a professional basketball player. I played for my country for nine years before I started to get lots of injuries. Then I wanted to try something different so I came to Abu Dhabi as a gym instructor. I had a friend who was already working here who helped me and her sister come over together. I prefer active sports, so then I found the ladies' club and started training people in squash. I have since found out that I was the only female squash instructor in the whole city.

I am an only child and I only have my mother left in Ukraine. People here think that's very strange. I left home at 14 to play basketball. My father passed away 18 years ago so my mother and my grandfather are the most important people in my life. I was 22 when I arrived here, and it was my dream to have a career. I am the activities co-ordinator and I assist with other projects. Everything has come step by step, and I love it. I organise all the sports events here. I find sponsors and do the marketing. I organise school visits and kids' activities, including summer camps, for members and non-members. I work mainly with children, starting from as young as three.

My basketball team here is girls aged 12 to 20. When I came to this club all the facilities were here but there were no coaches. The women here liked sport but it was almost dead: alone you cannot do anything. In sport you need someone who is pushing and motivating you all the time. The women also like the challenge of doing sport in front of each other. So I started volleyball, basketball and squash. I ordered some sand, because it's really fun to play volleyball outside without shoes. The women really loved it, and then they started to play basketball and squash. And after that, when they found out they were losing a lot of weight, it became even more popular. In March this year we had the first squash tournament at the ADLC for 10 years. So things are getting better.

I also still play basketball for Zayed University, and I like waterskiing and using jet skis. On my day off I cannot just lie down and watch TV, I need to go out and do something. I love the cinema because it's the only place where I can forget work. I don't eat out much and I prefer not to eat after 7pm. I always eat breakfast: Ukrainian black bread with cheese and strong coffee. Most days I make schedules for the aerobics teachers. We have five full-time instructors and seven freelancers. We only have two studios and the best time is between 5pm and 6pm, so I have to find a solution for everybody. I am currently planning the Ramadan Tennis Open, which happens from 9-11pm, after the last prayer. The first and most important skill you need in this job is communication. You have to be able to communicate effectively with people from all nationalities and of all ages. You also have to show people that you really care about them and you are there to help them. Then everything will be fine.

The most difficult thing about the job is understanding everyone. People from more than 36 different nationalities come here. I have even learnt to type in Arabic, because you can't only have posters and leaflets in English. Of course there are problems every day and the work is tiring, but I am still young and luckily keeping fit is part of my job. I get up at 6.45am every day and am at work by 7.45. I usually work for between nine and 11 hours a day. I coach squash for up to six hours a day.

When everything runs successfully at work, when I see how people appreciate the work I do and I receive my salary, I am happy. The children also make me happy when they see me and come running, shouting "Miss Oxana!" When the mums come to me with flowers at the farewell parties, I don't even know how to react sometimes. I live in Karama and I love it there. I have also just passed my driving test here; it took six months but I don't really know how I passed it. I have my own car and now I feel that I'm really successful. All I have to do is get married - although I don't want to stop work. My career is the most important thing for me at the moment. Appreciation, company training and salary increases motivate me. I get sad when somebody is sick, when one of my clients doesn't finish something or when one of my competitions doesn't go well or as I expected.

I would like to visit every country in the world, but most of all I would like to go to Venice and Hawaii. There, I dream that I will just lie down and have people offer me things!