ASPIRE, the Academy for Sports Excellence based in Qatar, has extended its international scholarship program for talented 11-15 year old student athletes, opening opportunities for countries including Ghana, Senegal and Brazil.
The program is one of the most far-reaching projects of its kind for a sports academy, and among the first to be conducted by a Middle East institution, offering scholarships based upon talent, ability, and motivational preparedness.
ASPIRE hopes that, in addition to discovering and helping to train talented international students, the scholarship program will also boost the performance of Qatar-based students, by raising the overall level of sports performance within the Academy.
In order to ensure that the program is fully-effective, ASPIRE has developed a rigorous selection process. Initially, ASPIRE representatives either visit the potential scholarship students in their own countries, or invite them and their parents to Qatar for a week-long intensive assessment, before the recommendation process starts.
A major part of the program is to develop a firm relationship with the student athletes and their families, and ensure that all parties are comfortable with every step of the process.
Once at the Academy, tests assess biomechanical, physiological, medical, psycho-social, technical and tactical abilities and also focus on the education and achievement motivation as well as parental support and approval.
Experts are confident that the internationalisation process of the ASPIRE environment will raise the standards amongst the local student athletes.
Dr. Andreas Bleicher, Sports Manager, ASPIRE, said: “The scholarship program offers the best learning environment, full board, school education and careers assistance, as well as opportunities to compete in national and international competitions, to a limited number of talented students from around the world.
“Bringing international talent into the Academy through ASPIRE’s scholarship program helps to raise the overall skill level of the student athlete population, which enables our Qatari students to hone their skills alongside the best in the world.”
About ASPIRE
ASPIRE, the Academy for Sports Excellence, Doha, was created with the dual aims of identifying and transforming promising student athletes into world renowned champions across a wide range of sports and acting as a beacon to draw sporting culture into the centre of life in Qatar and the surrounding region.
The Academy is distinguished by a philosophy which aims to develop the whole student, providing them with full academic and sporting development.
Unrivalled facilities mark the Academy out as one of the world’s foremost sporting and educational institutions, and entice an ever increasing number of visitors from across the spectrum of world sports to use or simply view them. These same facilities will also play host to events during the forthcoming Asian Games 2006.
With seven outdoor football pitches, athletics tracks, Olympic-sized swimming pool, diving pool, combat arenas, gymnastics arena, specially designed weight rooms, lecture halls, dormitories to accommodate what will eventually become 1,000 students, a medical centre and more besides, much housed beneath the world’s largest purpose built sports dome, every aspect of the development of elite athletes is catered for. There is a place for those who dare to dream.
ASPIRE TODAY, INSPIRE TOMORROW
