Aspire Academy

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Aerial view of the Aspire Academy for Sports Excellence

The Aspire Academy , in ar-Rayyan west of the Qatari capital Doha, is a sports academy for the country's greatest sports talents and one of the world's largest training centers for top athletes. The academy, which is part of the Aspire Zone , opened in 2004 and has, among other things, 12 soccer fields as well as squash courts, running tracks, various sports halls, laboratories, weight rooms, a school, a dormitory and a swimming center.

Part of the Academy is the Aspire Dome , an indoor sports stadium that can accommodate around 15,000 spectators and, with a covered area of ​​around 250,000 m², is one of the largest indoor facilities in the world. The academy was built under the direction of Roger Taillibert , under whom the Olympic Stadium in Montreal was built and the Prinzenparkstadion in Paris was rebuilt. The first major international event in the facility was the 2006 Asian Games .

The Aspire Academy is directed by the Spaniard Ivan Bravo. Before his engagement as Director General in Aspire working, he served as Director of Strategy at the Spanish top club Real Madrid CF .

Goal setting

The primary aim of the Aspire Academy is to train the most talented young athletes in Qatar into top athletes while also providing them with high quality school education. Sports that Aspire Academy's students practice include soccer, athletics, table tennis, squash, fencing.

Admission to the Academy is subject to an in-depth screening process that tests 5,000 boys aged 11 across Qatar each year. In order to identify talent as early as possible and to get children excited about sport as early as possible, the Academy runs programs such as Multi Sport Skills Development and Football Talent Center, which are scattered across Qatar. The most talented youngsters receive a scholarship to attend the academy between the ages of 12 and 18. There they work together with a team of experienced international trainers, sports scientists and teachers on their athletic, academic and personal development.

In order to support the talents in the best possible way, the Academy works closely with the national sports associations and has a large international network. With the Aspire Zone Foundation owned clubs KAS Eupen in Belgium and Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa in Spain, the Academy's football program can work closely with two clubs in Europe that provide a platform for Qatar's most talented talent to successfully master the step into professional sport after graduating from the Academy. Even before that, talented students have the opportunity to train at these or other European clubs in the youth department in order to gain their first experience abroad.

The Academy is also always a magnet for international athletes who attend training camps here, including football clubs such as FC Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain , who regularly use the perfect conditions at Aspire for their winter preparations.

successes

The most successful graduates of the Aspire Academy include the successful high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim (2017 world champion, 2016 Olympic silver), the top 50 squash player Abdulla Al-Tamimi and the soccer player Akram Afif , who became the first Qatari soccer player in 2016. Professional moved to the Spanish La Liga to Villarreal . The striker was also part of the Qatari U19 national team , which won the 2014 Asian U19 Championship in Myanmar and consisted exclusively of players from the Aspire Academy. The squad that finished 3rd in the 2018 Asian Under-23 Championship in China was largely made up of players from the same generation of Aspire Academy graduates.

Four graduates of the Academy - Mutaz Essa Barshim (high jump), Ashraf El-Seify (hammer throw), Ahmed Bedir (javelin throw) and Abubaker Haydar (800 m) - competed for Qatar at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Social responsibility

Aspire launched Aspire Football Dreams in 2008 as part of a CSR project. With the help of a partner academy in Senegal, an attempt is being made to promote talented African young people by giving them school and football training. Subsequently, they should make the leap into professional football and make it into their respectful national team. A successful example of this career path is Nigerian striker Henry Onyekuru , who made the leap from Aspire Football Dreams via KAS Eupen to Premier League club Everton in 2017 and made his debut for the Nigerian national soccer team in the same year .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Aspire Dome Concept. (PDF) arconic, accessed on April 26, 2018 .
  2. ^ Diario AS: Ivan Bravo to extend contract with Aspire . In: AS.com . February 25, 2017 ( as.com [accessed April 29, 2018]).
  3. ↑ Aspire Academy: Management Team. Retrieved April 29, 2018 (American English).
  4. ↑ Talent Identification Program at Aspire Academy - The Peninsula Qatar. Retrieved April 29, 2018 .
  5. ↑ AS Eupen: Qatar has a football farm in Belgium . In: ZEIT ONLINE . ( zeit.de [accessed on April 29, 2018]).
  6. ^ Diario AS: Aspire compra la Cultural Leonesa y evita su desaparición . In: AS.com . September 16, 2015 ( as.com [accessed April 29, 2018]).
  7. ↑ All information about the FCB winter training camp in Doha / Qatar . In: https://www.tz.de/ . December 28, 2017 ( tz.de [accessed April 29, 2018]).
  8. ↑ Abendzeitung, Germany: FC Bayern Munich in Doha: All information about the winter training camp in the news blog . ( Abendzeitung-muenchen.de [accessed on April 29, 2018]).
  9. ^ Doha fans over the moon as Neymar & Co train at Aspire - The Peninsula Qatar. Retrieved April 29, 2018 .
  10. ^ NDR: Mutaz Essa Barshim: The goal is to set a world record. Retrieved April 29, 2018 .
  11. ^ One to watch: Abdulla Al Tamimi. Accessed April 29, 2018 .
  12. ^ Matthias Krug: Akram Afif wants to inspire young Qataris to play in Spain . In: Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy . ( sc.qa [accessed April 29, 2018]).
  13. ↑ Akram Afif back to his home club ›KAS Eupen. Retrieved April 29, 2018 (German).
  14. ^ Diario AS: El Villarreal cede a Akram Afif al KAS Eupen de la Jupiler League . In: AS.com . July 14, 2017 ( as.com [accessed April 29, 2018]).
  15. ↑ Qatar Wins AFC U-19 Championship in Myanmar - Marhaba l Qatar's Premier Information Guide. Retrieved April 29, 2018 (UK English).
  16. ^ Aspire Academy: News. Retrieved April 29, 2018 (American English).
  17. ^ Aspire Academy: News. Retrieved April 29, 2018 (American English).
  18. ^ Aspire Academy: News. Retrieved April 29, 2018 (American English).
  19. ^ Aspire Academy: News. Retrieved April 29, 2018 (American English).
  20. ↑ Aspire Academy celebrates new int take of 'football dreams' talent with closing ceremony . ( iloveqatar.net [accessed April 29, 2018]).
  21. ↑ Nigeria, Onyekuru should be grateful to Aspire Academy, says Ivan Bravo . In: Qatar Tribune Qatar . ( qatar-tribune.com [accessed April 29, 2018]).
  22. ↑ Meet Henry Onyekuru: Everton's new Nigerian raised by Qataris in Belgium . In: FourFourTwo . June 27, 2017 ( fourfourtwo.com [accessed April 29, 2018]).

Coordinates: 25 ° 16 ′ 0 ″  N , 51 ° 26 ′ 37 ″  E