The players of Amza Ibn Abdulmutalib School, winners of the Aspire Football Festival for Preparatory Schools pose for a picture in Doha yesterday.
Aspire Academy has successfully concluded the two-day Aspire Football Festival for Preparatory Schools, with the Hamza Ibn Abdulmutalib School clinching the title after defeating Ibn Kahldun School 1-0 in a hard-fought match at Aspire Dome’s Indoor pitch.
Both finalists qualified for the final match at the expense of the Islamic Institute, Imam Shafi, Abu Ubaidah, and Yarmuk schools which all crashed out of the competition during the second stage of the competition.
Ivan Bravo, the Director General of Aspire Academy, awarded the winning team.
A number of Aspire Academy’s senior officials were also present including Badr Al Hay, Director of Education and Student Care; Ali Sultan Fakhroo, Director of Corporate Services; Jassem Al Jaber, Aspire Academy’s School Principal; and Saeed Ali Al Marri, Manager of Football Administration.
Commenting on the event, Al Marri said: “With this Football Festival, the Aspire Academy achieved an important objective which was to engage schools in order to uncover national sporting talent that exists in Qatar’s young athletes, specifically football. We see schools remaining as the main source of promising players in Qatar, especially at this young age where physical capabilities start to shape up. We were greatly satisfied to see the excitement of students who participated in this tournament and excited by the high standard on the pitch. This tournament summed up our homegrown footballing aspiration and reflects Qatar’s passion for football.”
Badr Al Hay, Director of Education and Student Care, also said: “We’d like to see the students who participated at this Festival standing shoulder to shoulder with our Aspire Academy graduates as part of Qatar’s national team during the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar in a little over five years’ time. The students participating during the festival definitely showed promise and it’s out hope they will be part of this historic event, and that the Aspire Football Festival was a major step that helped them achieve their dreams.”
The football program of Aspire Academy is recognized as one of the strongest in the world in terms of talent detection and selection, as well as training, competition and the evaluation. The Academy’s training philosophy is tailored to the capabilities, talents and goals of Qatar as a footballing nation and it follows a strategy that is geared towards the development of the individual player. The Academy’s Scouting Department combines a team of international scouts and football analysts that are responsible for local, regional and international scouting. The team also identifies and monitors players in clubs throughout Qatar, which allows the Aspire Academy to monitor players in Qatar throughout the season.
