18 Jan 2026
Children from 23 government schools participated in a range of sporting challenges at the Ministry of Education’s second annual Kids’ Festival, hosted in collaboration with Aspire Academy, held on its indoor athletics track.
Each school brought six of its most talented boys born in 2017 and 2018 to have fun while testing their sporting skills across nine challenges.
The tests, developed by Aspire Academy coaches, featured running, throwing, balance, agility, and accuracy.
Results and data were collected on all the participants that can be analysed not only by Aspire Academy’s talent scouts but also shared with coaches from sports clubs around Qatar. Paving the way for those who show the most promise to be offered more specialist training to continue their development.
It is not only athletic talent that the event can help identify, with Aspire Academy’s padel coaches also taking the opportunity to observe the youngsters who might exhibit the attributes to excel in padel.
All the participants also received medals from Salman Al-Hazmi, the Head of the Physical Education Department at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
The festival was organised by Mooza Al-Harami, Senior Physical Education Supervision Specialist at the Ministry, who outlined the reasons for the event.
“We want to help the young children develop some important skills for this age, like jumping, correct running techniques, and throwing,” she explained.
“As well as recording their results, we want the kids to have a lot of fun and understand the benefits of a healthy lifestyle that involves exercise.”
“We decided to partner with Aspire Academy because they are very supportive of what we are doing, and they have an amazing indoor athletics stadium.
“The staff are great, helpful, and their experience in measuring and judging events is essential for us to get the best information.”
The Kids’ Festival highlights Aspire Academy’s commitment to working with various stakeholders in Qatar to not only identify young talent with the potential to develop into the stars of the future, but also to promote a healthy and active lifestyle.