03 Mar 2015
Doha, 3 March 2015. On Saturday 16 boys from eight Arab countries gathered at Aspire Academy in Doha to take part in a football try-out with the chance to be selected for a full-time sports scholarship for the 2015-16 season. The Aspire Academy Sports Scholarship program is the first time ever that the Academy has opened its doors to talents from all Arab countries.
Since December 2014, boys born in the years 1999 to 2003 and holding citizenship of an Arab country outside of Qatar had the chance to register online and submit videos to get a chance to attend the first stage of the try-outs on February 28. Thousands of young players registered and, after the videos were reviewed by Aspire Academy’s football scouting department, 16 boys from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Tunisia and Yemen were invited with their parents to come to Aspire Academy.
Their program on that special day was quite intense: Besides different football tests they were taken on a tour through the Academy, heard about the philosophy of Aspire in a presentation in the auditorium and at the closing ceremony each one of them received a participation certificate from Aspire Academy Football Director Roberto Olabe, who was pleased with the day’s outcome.
“The boys were all really motivated and showed a lot of effort on the day. Now it’s up to our team to carefully review that material and to see who is good enough to be selected for the next stage. That would include an invitation to join one of the Academy’s teams for a week in April to see if there’s the potential to become part of the Academy’s football program and become a full-time student in 2015-16,” said Roberto Olabe. “And maybe we are able to help them to fulfill their dream to break into professional football and one day play for their countries’ national team.”
For the sixteen boys the day was one of the highlights of their football career so far. “It was an awesome experience, the facilities of Aspire Academy are really impressive, the hotel was great and everyone was really friendly and supportive. Coming here and joining the Academy would be a dream come true,” said Mohamed Guemri, a 16-year-old boy from Tunisia as he expressed the feeling of his fellow participants who all left Doha with the hope of being re-invited for the competition’s final stage in April. “The initiative of Aspire Academy is a great chance for the boys and it would be great if many of them could break into professional football and represent their home countries here at the 2022 World Cup,” added Mohamed’s father.