Director of Education Badr al-Hay with a student-athlete and his father. Right: Aspire Academy director general Ivan Bravo addresses the new batch.

By Sports Reporter/Doha

Aspire Academy welcomed 69 future student-athletes during the ‘2015 Scholarship Ceremony’ on Tuesday evening.
The ceremony, which took place in front of 200 people, welcomed the future student-athletes and their parents in the presence of representatives of the boys’ former schools and their Qatari sports clubs and federations.
Director general Ivan Bravo welcomed the new batch and promised that everyone at Aspire would do their best in order to support the academic and athletic development of the boys.
“We place a lot of importance on the process of testing children all over Qatar to guarantee that we find every boy with the potential and desire to become a successful athlete. But, of course, we are not just focused on their development as athletes; we also want them to achieve their full academic potential so that they can become leaders and role models of this country. It has been harder than ever to get a scholarship this year and you can all be very proud of yourself,” Bravo said.
In order to receive a scholarship at the Academy, the young Qatari boys have been selected by showing strong results during either the ‘Gold Camp’ as the final stage of the talent identification process for the sports program or by qualifying themselves via the feeder teams and the scouting process of the Academy’s football department.
To give the boys an idea what they can expect of the years to come, Rashid al-Mansoori, a graduate of Aspire Academy told them about his experience. “I have learned so much while I was here. Not just from school or my sport, but for life. Everyone at Aspire is very supportive and the education you receive here allows you to join any university you want after you graduate from the Academy.”
Principal Jassem al-Jaber stressed on the importance of a good education and the opportunities that lay ahead for the future students to combine learning with their sporting careers. “It’s our aim that our student-athletes succeed in their sports as well as become educated and responsible individuals that can be the leaders of tomorrow. We support their progress whether that is to pursue a career in sports, join the workforce or continue their education by going to university when they graduate from the Academy.”
The 69 boys — 44 will join sports and 25 the football programme —  received scholarship certificates from director of Sport Chris Earle and director of Football Roberto Olabe.
“They have come through a hard selection process and we are happy that they chose to accept our offer to join Aspire Academy,” said Earle.
Olabe added: “Each one of them has potential, and we hope that many of them are able to follow the footsteps of their successful predecessors.”
For the future students and their parents it was a very special occasion. “I think it’s a great chance for my son and I am glad that I found out about his potential with the help of Aspire and I hope he will achieve a lot in sports and academics,” said Yousif Mohamed.
“It’s a great place and I am convinced that a healthy mind belongs in a healthy body and therefore the combination of sport and education that Aspire Academy offers is perfect,” added Hamad Java al-Mari.
Twelve-year-old Faysal Moteb al-Mansour is already looking forward to the beginning of the school year 2015-16: “I am very proud that I was chosen and I will do my best to prove that I deserve to be a student of Aspire Academy.”