At face value, domino is seen as that game so many play to pass time, or to chill with friends over a few drinks.

On many street corners, bars and backyard patios, the battle for the prized six love rages with a brand of passion and zeal unique to the board game.

But what many people don’t see is the serious side of domino, where its message is not all fun and games.

For example, the National Association of Domino Bodies (NADB) has pionerred a drive to get youth and young professionals from various fields to become members and to become integrally involved with the sport for its furtherance and development values.

The NADB’s aim has always been to improve the social and emotional well-being of all Jamaicans through engagement in the Character Education Programme, to provide robust psychosocial support, foster improved school, home, and wider community relations.

An individual success story emerging from NADB’s programme is the promising Tahje Wallen. Wallen was drafted into the 2010 NADB’s Summer Camp at the age of 11, while attending Mona High School where his academic performance was averaging 60 per cent.

With the knowledge gained from the Summer Camp programme, Wallen had graduated from Mona High with five CSEC subjects — two Grade I passes, two Grade II passes, and one Grade III. He then went to Lower Sixth at Mona High and got three CAPE subjects that led him to complete a Bachelor’s of Science in Accounting at the University of Technology (UTech).

“I went to the domino summer camp where I was taught to use domino as an educational tool for learning, especially in mathematics, my favourite subject. Attending this domino programme gave me the opportunity to see what reality was and it had enhanced my mathematics skills, reasoning ability, and being focused.

“The programme had a section referred to as Pick Up, Match Up and Store which assisted in my thinking skills, putting like items together and memory while being focused on the task at hand. With this, I was able to use it in my studies in school and start scoring higher grades on exams.

“I had learned how to use domino with my memory. I was first given three dominoes to look at then it [dominoes] was taken away for me to state what the dominoes were. I move from three dominoes to 14 dominoes. It reached to the point where I played a game of domino from memory by memorising 12 dominoes,” Wallen recollected.

He said achieving this high level of retention ability has helped him other spheres of his life.

“I went to different organisations to display my talent garnered to domino executives and officials by playing domino from memory with seven and 12 dominoes,” the 23-year-old Wallen said.

After being exposed to the power of domino, he said he was able to assist other students.

“During grades 10, 11 and 12 at Mona High, I assisted students in their principles of accounts (POA), office administration (OA) and financial accounting SBAs/IAs. I was also given the opportunity to teach mathematics, principles of accounts and office administration to students in my grades and lower due to my knowledge and sharp teaching skills,” Wallen shared.

Given that the NADB stages and works with numerous competitions islandwide, the potential for employment at various levels is constant. Among those opportunities is domino judge, administrator and competition director.

Wallen said, at the age of 18 he was given a job to become one of the judges in the Business House Domino Competition and a mentor at the summer camps.

“I became the assistant coordinator and technical officer with responsibilities for the planning, organising, monitoring, and execution of the Business House Domino Competition in February 2018, while being the youngest judge in the competition.

“The experience was great and I learned along the way. I was treated with respect by players and managers from the teams. I also got the opportunity to work with younger children at the domino camp in using domino educationally and in other ways,” he said.

Wallen, who had developed a love for assisting students educationally, made a brave decision that would change his life for the better. In 2020, he decided to start an organisation called Youth Education Association — a non-profitable organisation — that assists youths educationally, socially, mentally and in personal development.

“With the experience garnered and insight from Mona High School, and being a part of NADB, I was equipped with the knowledge, and so I knew how to start the organisation. During the year 2021, as the executive director of Youth Education Association and my small team of five members, we were able to plan, organise and execute many projects.

“Some of these projects included the distribution of domino tablets to students at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels; the keeping of back-to-school treats in Waltham Garden, St Andrew, and Yallahs High School, St Thomas; the feeding of 200 homeless in partnership with St Catherine Municipal Corporation in Spanish Town, Old Harbour, Portmore and Linstead, and free CSEC and CAPE Marathon Classes for students, among many more projects.

“The NADB Domino Programme made me the person I am today with sharp thinking skills, excellent mathematical skills, great reasoning ability, and a memory for good. I am heading towards completing my Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) papers to become a chartered accountant,” the former Stewart’s Automotive worker said.