19 May 2016
Doha, 19 May 2016. The sporting success of Aspire Academy’s past and present student-athletes is largely down to the thorough screening process that is conducted by the team at Aspire Academy’s Talent Identification (TID) Programme in Qatari schools each year. In order to thank the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, involved schools and teachers for their cooperation and support, Aspire Academy welcomed representatives from the entities involved in the programme to the Auditorium of the Academy on Thursday, 19 May, for the prestigious “Talent Identification Closing Ceremony”.
In the talent identification process of the 2015-16 academic year, 45 schools, including 39 model and independent schools as well as six private schools – were visited by Aspire’s team for the first testing phase, which involved 4,124 students. At the end of the elaborate 3-stage-testing and screening process, the 26 boys who showed the most promise and obtained the best results in the relevant athletic and academic evaluations were offered scholarships to join Aspire Academy for the 2016-17 school year.
These boys, who will be involved in the Academy’s programmes in football and others sports, are the next generation of hopefuls to represent Qatar on the international arena, following in the footsteps of Aspire Academy graduates such as high jump World Champion Mutaz Essa Barshim and runner Abubaker Haydar who just qualified for the 800m at this Summer’s Olympic Games in Rio.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Ali Al-Hitmi, Student Care Manager at Aspire Academy, said: “Achievements like these are results of the fruitful cooperation between Aspire Academy and local schools in Qatar throughout the screening and selection process. We are very thankful for your support”.
During the ceremony, Aspire Academy representatives discussed the work of the TID-team in the last year and Aspire Academy’s Multi Sport Skills Development-Programme, before thanking the schools involved. A token of appreciation was handed out by Mr. Ali Salem Afifa, Deputy Director General at Aspire Academy and Mr. Jassem Al Jaber, Aspire Academy School Principal and Mr. Ali Al-Hitmi.
The ceremony was attended by representatives from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, including Mr. Khalifa Saad Dirham, Director of the Office of the Independent Schools; Ms. Marwa Ahmed, Education Consultant, Ms. Ammna Sulaiti, Education Consultant and Mr. Abdullah Al-Mansouri, Private Schools Expert.
Andrew Douglas, Head of International Talent Identification Programme at Aspire Academy, said: “This past season we are pleased to have made inroads towards one of our challenges, which was to get into private schools. We went into six or seven private schools with the support of the Ministry of Education. Lots of credit for the TID programme goes to school teachers, who do a lot of work behind the scenes and we are pleased to show our appreciation to them today”.
Saleh Mohammed Al-Marri, Talent Identification Senior Officer, applauded the work of the coaches involved in the schools and believes sporting events like the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro help put across the goal of the programme. He added: “ The participation of the likes of Mutaz and Abubaker are good tangible examples of what we are targeting and when the children at home, parents and the whole nation watch former Aspire Academy students compete at the world’s top competitions, such as the Olympics, that adds significant value to our programme”.