One of Aspire Academy's U-12 Matches.
The Aspire Football Festival for Preparatory Schools will kick off on the Aspire Academy’s indoor and outdoor pitches today, with excitement among the participants and their families and friends alike building rapidly.
The two-day festival features 24 government schools and forms part of the Academy’s ongoing efforts to both identify national football talent and engage the local community and Qatar’s youth in building a footballing generation ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.
The list of participating schools includes: Ibn Kahldun, Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq, Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, Al-Maha Academy, Yarmuk, Khalid Bin Al-Walid, Khalid Bin Ahmad, Ussama Ibn Zayed, Doha, Al-Razi, Salah Al-Din Al-Ayoubi, Ali Ibn Abi Talib, Muhmmad Bin Jassim Bin Muhammad, the Islamic Institute, Imam Shafi, Abu Ubaidah in Shahaniya, Hamza Ibn Abdulmutalib, Abd Al-Rahman Bin Jassim in Mesaieed, Abdullah Bin Ali Al-Misnad in Rawdat Rashed, and Al-Ahnaf Ibn Qais in Simaisma.
At the group stage, participating teams will be divided into groups of four, competing against each other in 20 minute games with no halftime or end change.
Teams will receive three points for winning, one point for a draw and no points for losing. At the end of the group matches, the winning school in each group will be rewarded as winner, qualifying for the final round of matches.
The semi-final matches will take place on April 24 and will see six teams compete in two groups.
Top teams from each group will compete at their final match on the indoor pitch.
The winning teams at group, semi-final stage, and the winner of the festival will receive cash prizes.
Several QSL football stars and Qatar National Football team coaches as well as Aspire Academy’s officials, participating school principals, parents and students will attend the opening ceremony that will take place at 9am.
Commenting on the event, Ali Saeed Al Marri, Manager of Football Administration at Aspire Academy, said: “The objective of this festival is to discover footballing talents at this young age in preparatory schools. We target this age group as we select talents to join the Academy simultaneously while we work on identifying and developing players who are talented enough to represent their country.”
The football programme of Aspire Academy is recognised as one of the strongest in the world in terms of talent detection and selection, as well as training, competition and evaluation of each adolescent player.
The Academy’s training philosophy is tailored to the capabilities, talents and goals of Qatar as a footballing nation. It follows a strategy that is geared towards the development of the individual player, who should be able to know what the game demands in any given situation.
The Academy’s Scouting Department combines a team of international scouts and football analysts that are responsible for talent scouting. This team identifies and monitors players in clubs throughout Qatar, which allows Aspire Academy to be closer to the reality of the level of players in Qatar throughout the season.
