Aspire
Doha, Qatar: Aspire Academy held its first
parents meeting for the new academic year 2018-2019 last week.
The meeting
that took place on Wednesday welcomed a number of guardians of the newly
enrolled ‘student-athletes’ batch in the auditorium.
Ali Sultan Fakhroo,
Director of Corporate Services, officially welcomed the guests on behalf of the
Academy’s management, before several departments took the opportunity to
present themselves.
Speaking on
behalf of the Sports Department, Dr. Hazem F. Anabtawi, Deputy Director Sports
at Aspire Academy, took the opportunity to emphasise the pathway Aspire lays
out for students in order to help guarantee them a successful development, both
in their sports and educational career. “Your sons are joining a new system,
which can be a challenging transition, but they are going to get a lot of
support in order to make the most of their potential”, said Dr. Anabtawi.
He also
explained that, besides effort and commitment, the relationship between
students and their coaches, teachers and parents plays a pivotal role in their
development. “Only if they have the full support of everyone, will they be able
to become successful champions.”
He stressed
how important it was for parents to constantly stay in touch with the Academy’s
administration and to make sure that their sons are also able to follow a
healthy diet and get the right amount of sleep when they are at home.
Dr. Anabtawi
finished his speech by telling the audience: “Every student, who joins the
Academy is talented and we want to develop them to make the most of this
talent. Therefore, we all need to work together.” Dr. Anabtawi’s speech was
followed by an introduction of the Academy’s football department, given by the
Technical Director Edorta Murua Zenarruzabeitia.
Zenarruzabeitia,
a Spaniard who joined the Academy in March 2017 after a two-year-long spell as
Technical Director for Youth Football at Club Universidad de Chile and held
positions such as Director of the Training Methodology Department at Athletic
Bilbao (2011 – 2015) and the Director of the High Performance Centre at
Atletico Madrid (2010 – 2011), took the time to give the parents an insight
into the philosophy and methodology of the Academy’s football programme.
After that,
Dr. Antonio Tramullas, Medical Director of the Aspire Health Center, gave the
parents a brief overview about the work that has been done by his department
and talked about the key things they needed to pay attention to during their
son’s development.
He was
followed by Aspire Academy’s School Principal Jassem Mohammed Al-Jaber, who
explained the benefits of the recently opened expansion of the Academy, which
includes a Learning Research Center, a new dormitory and new classrooms.
Furthermore, he introduced the parents to the “Aspire Way Curriculum” that has
a high focus on strengthening and supporting the individual skills of students
as well as developing the character of the boys.
A Q&A
session, which gave parents the opportunity to ask the Academy’s management
specific questions about the programs, rounded up the successful evening.