13 Sep 2017
Doha, 13 September 2017. This week Aspire Academy welcomed new and current student-athletes for the new academic year with a week-long series of events and activities. 280 students, including 70 new faces, hit the ground running on Sunday ahead of another year of expected hard work and achievement in both academics and sports at the Academy’s world class facilities.
The agenda for new students’ first week included various entertainment and educational games to help them adapt to life at the Academy and enhance their social and behavioural skills.
The programme started with a welcome assembly in the auditorium where all the Academy’s teachers were also present. Afterwards, these students were split into groups led by senior students and began to familiarise themselves with the Academy premises timetables and facilities.
The new students got to participate in a number of educational activities and games in their classrooms, receiving life lessons amongst these: how to live a healthy life-style and how to support each other in such a high-achieving environment.
Parents of new athlete-students were also invited to stay overnight at the school’s dormitory and join their sons on an entertainment programme that included swimming and wall-climbing sessions.
Badr Jassim Al-Hay, Director of Education and Student Care at Aspire Academy, said to mark the start of the new academic year:
“I’m delighted to welcome a new generation of student-athletes to the Academy, where we look forward to developing them into successful, responsible young men. The Academy is now an official Council of International Schools-accredited institution and we aim to maintain our world-class standards even as we continue to shape the future of our student-athletes and build leadership and educational skills. This year, we will be focusing on further enhancing the quality of the Academy’s activities and I am confident that every student we have will feel the full benefit of our endeavours”.
Al-Hay also pointed out that one of the goals of the Academy this year is to increase the number of students who take up residences when school is in session, which he described as a “crucial factor” in building and boosting their skills.
He went on to add that all the Academy’s departments are working together to improve the educational process and embed positive behaviours in students. He mentioned Mutaz Barshim, Aspire Academy graduate and Olympic silver medallist, as a role-model of self-discipline and commitment in this regard, explaining that Barshim boasts all the elements that a leader in sports ought to aspire to.
Commenting on the school’s expectations for this academic year, Jassim Al-Jaber, School Principal at Aspire Academy said:
“Our objective is to enable our student-athletes to realise their full potential and achieve remarkable things in whatever they choose to pursue. We, as a school, achieve this by constantly working with students, their parents and teachers to improve the academic and sporting mix we offer each individual.”
Al-Jaber went on to explain the school’s development system, which he said is based on continuous consultation and feedback with student’s stakeholders, including the students themselves, their parents, teachers and other members of staff. This system helps to quickly and effectively identify and implement new ideas that promote positive behaviour, encourage learning, and overcome any obstacles.
The Academy also uses some of the latest technologies available to improve students’ living and learning experience and help them become self-learners and knowledge seekers. It also keeps an open line of communication with parents through regular meetings and several applications, such as the Blackboard and Parent Corner programmes, which keep them abreast of students’ results and performance.
In terms of its facilities, the Academy continuously upgrades its physical environment to ensure it remains at the forefront of sports education. Currently, a new extension is underway that will add a library, new classrooms and dormitories, and a sports performance lab.
Aspire Academy student-athletes are developed through comprehensive athlete portfolio management, whereby coaches, educators, support service, service providers and management personnel actively cooperate to achieve an integrated Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) program based on specific and measurable performance outcomes. The progressive development, duty-of-care and creation of a fun and interactive environment are core to these efforts.
About Aspire Academy:
Since opening its doors in 2004, Aspire Academy has become one of the foremost national sports academies in the world. Working as part of the Aspire Zone Foundation - an international sport destination – Aspire Academy is at the heart of a sporting revolution currently taking place in Qatar and around the region. The Academy is conceiving, promoting and implementing game-changing excellence in sports training and elite athlete development that is enabling an entire generation of talented, disciplined and committed individuals, both Qataris and internationals to pursue their sports dreams.
Together with the other members of the Aspire Zone Foundation (Aspire Logistics and ASPETAR Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital), the Aspire Academy is developing sports champions, promoting healthy lifestyles and galvanizing the sports economy of today, and the future.
For more information please visit www.aspire.qa.