17 Jun 2015
Doha, 16 June 2015. Some of Qatar’s most promising athletes and scholars graduated from Aspire Academy at a star-studded ceremony in Doha on Tuesday, June 16. The 33 graduates celebrated more than six years of studying and training at Aspire Academy during the dazzling ceremony, which evoked emotions of both elation and reflection. Among the several hundred guests to applaud the boys were senior figures from within the Qatari sporting establishment such as QFA President HE Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Ahmed Al Thani, Aspire Academy members of staff and the proud parents and family members of all graduates.
On behalf of the Academy’s management team, Ali Salem Afifa, Deputy Director General, thanked the students for all of their efforts during the time they spent in the Academy, “Today is the end of a road full of achievements, perseverance and efforts, but it symbolizes also the beginning of your professional life and we wish you all the best for your future endeavors.”
During his speech, he also reflected on the recent great success of Aspire students at Asian and global level, such as the triumph of the Qatari U19 football national team at the AFC U-19 Championships in Myanmar and their qualification for the FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, where some of this year’s graduates had the chance to represent their country on the global stage.
School Principal Jassem Al Jaber stressed how important it was for the teachers to prepare them for the life after the Academy and the graduates have learnt skills that are necessary to unlock their potential and become role models for Qatar. Speaking on behalf of the student-athletes Abdulwahab Ishak finally thanked all coaches, teachers and people that have supported the graduates along the way: “It’s hard to leave a place where we have spent some of the best moments in our lives, Aspire has become for us like a family and we will give our best, so they can be proud of us in the future.”