Doha
Tuesday 05 September 2023
A total of 60 new student-athletes have joined Aspire Academy at the start of
the 2023-24 academic year which officially began on Sunday 3 September.
The new intake is set to train in seven different sports, with padel the latest
sport adopted by the Academy with a total of six student-athletes joining
various grades for the new year.
Grade 7 welcomes 35 newcomers, with 11 joining Grade 8, there are 4
additions to Grade 9 and a further 5 each in Grades 10 and 11.
As well as the six padel players there are 27 footballers, 5 referees, 14 in
athletics, 3 squash players, 4 swimmers and one table tennis player.
The new academic year is the first since 2020 that will be free of all Covid-19
restrictions something that Aspire Academy’s school principal Jassem Al
Jaber is looking forward to.
“Let me congratulate all of the students for the new coming year, welcome the
newcomers and congratulate the parents,” the principal said as the student-
athletes returned to school.
“We have had a period of several years when we haven’t been able to be at
occupation or carry out all our activities due to Covid-19.
“Now with this academic year, we will be back to normal at school and have
the two daily training sessions. We are looking forward to the student-athletes
being fully active and full of all the energy that we feel here at the Academy.”
The principal added that now the school has been re-accredited by the
Council of International Schools (CIS) the staff will continue to meet those
standards and improve on them.
“Working with students means you need to always be thinking about how you
can develop them, how you can make them feel safe,” he explained.
“The aim is for them to progress in their sport and with their academics, that's
why you need to work daily work with them.”
“Our accreditation (with CIS) comes with standards that we had to meet and
those are standards you need to continue to deliver.”
“We must not only maintain expectations but also raise them as we strive to
develop our student-athletes. students more.”
“There are always a lot of challenges, but also you will find lots of fun when
you work with them as you find solutions to develop them and their skills.”
One of the student-athletes returning for his final year after a summer holiday
packed with competitions and travelling is pole vaulter Seif Hemeida.
Hemeida’s holidays saw him win gold medals at the Asian Under-20 Athletics
Championships, the Arab Athletics Championships and the Arab Games as
well as competing at the Asian Champions.
The 18-year-old also raised his own Qatar record three times from 5.35m,
which he set in February, to 5.40m to 5.50m and eventually to 5.51m.
Despite the busy schedule in recent weeks, he is confident that he will easily
be able to get back into the routine of being back at school as he continues to
balance his academic education with his athletics training.
“It's very easy to manage it (education and training) because Aspire
Academy, do everything for you and they make your routine very easy to
follow,” he explained.
“They help you to manage your day so we start the day in the school at 7am
and then finish around 6.30pm, so we have very little time to think about
anything else.”
Hemeida is aware of the importance of the academic side of his time at Aspire
Academy.
“Aspire Academy has already taught me a lot of things, for example when I
arrived my English was very bad and Aspire has helped me a lot in that area,”
he explained.
“Maths is my favourite subject at school and I am thinking about studying
business after I graduate from Aspire.”
In athletics Hemeida’s next big challenge will be competing for Qatar at the
Asian Games in China, which begin on 23 September.
Aspire Academy honoured its class of 2023 at a graduation ceremony on
Tuesday evening as the academic year drew to a close.
A record total of 54 student-athletes became the 16th set of graduates from
Aspire Academy.
The ceremony took place at the iconic Aspire dome with His Excellency
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani, the Honorary President of the
Qatar Football Association, as the guest of honour.
Other invitees included representatives from different sports federations as
well as from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.
Tariq Abdulaziz Al-Naama the Vice President -of the Aspire Zone Foundation,
Dr. Abdulaziz Al Kuwari the CEO of Aspetar also attended along with other
dignitaries, teachers, coaching staff as well as the parents and friends of the
student-athletes.
After a recital from the Quran by graduate Younis Mohamed Bala the
Academy’s Deputy Director General Ali Salem Afifa spoke on behalf of the
Director General.
Mr. Afifa stressed the pivotal role that Aspire has played in the development of
sport in Qatar since the Academy opened its doors.
"Since our opening in 2004, the Academy can boast many achievements and
has provided a lot of talent and stars to national teams in the various sports
that the Academy has in its program,” he said.
“We can achieve even more and enjoy further success in various sports with
the possibility of adding other sports to those we currently offer."
“As important are those graduates who have distinguished themselves
academically and educationally and have risen in various fields of work such
as medicine, aviation, engineering and others.”
Aspire Academy Director of Education and Student Affairs, Badr Al-Hay
thanked the guest of honour for his support over the years and hailed the
sports federations for their part in developing the student-athletes.
He also highlighted the balance that the Academy achieves between
academic and sporting development.
“Over the years we have developed a curriculum that works for our student-
athletes, we have worked to understand and implement measures so they can
thrive in the classroom and the sporting arena,” he explained.
“We also prepare them for life after the Academy and things like our
Leadership Development Programme will help them deal with problems in all
aspects of their lives and put them in a position to help others too.”
“While we wanted to be recognised as a world-class sports academy, we
were also determined that the academic side of Aspire was also recognised
and endorsed internationally.”
“Our recent re-accreditation by the Council for International Schools proves
that we are fulfilling our goal.”
“Please never forget that you will always be welcome back at Aspire
Academy, please keep in touch and let us share in your successes. We are
also here if you need support in the future.”
Footballer Saeed Jabir Afifa spoke on behalf of the graduating student-
athletes as he offered their gratitude to everyone involved in their time at
Aspire Academy.
“We will always refer to the hard work done here at Aspire Academy that has
inspired, guided and prepared us for the future,” he said.
“We are ready for the future. We must also remember that this is just the start
and there is a lot of hard work ahead of us if we are to fulfil our dreams.”
“Aspire will always be our second home and we will keep in touch. We must
also thank our nation for giving us this opportunity to represent them and we
are grateful for all your support.:
This year the Academy is celebrating graduates across nine sports disciplines
– football (23) football referees (2), athletics (18), table tennis (3), squash (2),
fencing (1), swimming (2), shooting (2) and motorsport (1).
This year’s graduates brings the total of student-athletes to have graduated
from Aspire Academy since it launched in 2004 to 594.
These graduates can now look forward to furthering their sporting and
academic careers and follow in the footsteps of Aspire Academy’s list of
illustrious alumni.
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