By Sports Reporter/Doha

Aspire Academy’s first Tri-Series tournament of the 2015-16 season concluded last week following a thrilling competition against elite Qatari, German and Argentinian opposition.  
Spanning three days, the first round included a competition schedule that pitted the Academy’s U-16, U-17 and U-18 teams against local counterpart Lekhwiya SC, German club Eintracht Frankfurt and Argentine club Estudiantes De La Plata.
The schedule enabled each team to play against its opponents at least once, thereby exposing the Academy’s teams to a combination of styles, philosophies and tactics, and creating a competitive environment that pushed them to improve their performance. At the end of the tournament, Aspire Academy’s teams won in two tough categories: U-16 and U-17, while Estudiantes De La Plata took home the U-18 trophy.  
During their time at the Aspire Academy, representatives from Estudiantes De La Plata also gave a presentation in the Academy’s auditorium on their philosophy and management approach when working with junior players, which benefited the coaches at Aspire Academy, as well as Lekhwiya SC and Eintracht Frankfurt.
On the days the visiting clubs were not participating in the tournament, they were given a tour of Doha where they visited the city’s touristic sites and important landmarks, and learned about Qatari history and culture.
Commenting on the first tournament of the 2015-16 Tri-Series season, Robert Olabe, Football Director at Aspire Academy, said: “The Tri-Series tournament brings together different clubs from a variety of continents and exposes those competing to different playing models, styles and tactics. We were delighted to have also been joined by one of Qatar’s most famous QSL clubs this year with the addition of Lekhwiya SC, demonstrating the passion and commitment we have as a country for football development. We are thrilled with the results achieved by the Aspire Academy teams, and believe this marks the positive evolution of their performance.”
Hamad Mohammad al-Hadwan, official at Lekhwiya SC, said: “We would like to thank Aspire Academy for inviting us to join this exceptional tournament and were delighted to have participated. It was a valuable addition to our training programmes and presented a great opportunity for our players to expand their horizons and compete with teams from around the world in settings, styles and tactics that they are not accustomed to”.   
Since its launch in 2012, the Tri-Series tournament has played a major role in the development of Aspire Academy’s student-athletes.
It acts as a system coaches use to compare and benchmark the performance of the Academy’s teams with the world’s best, and helps players develop a healthy competitive mentality that pushes them to excel.
Through the years, the tournament has brought some of the world’s finest youth teams together to compete against the student-athletes currently enrolled at Aspire Academy, reflecting positively on building skilled and well-educated local talent, and aligning with
Aspire Academy’s vision to be recognized as the world’s leading sports academy in the development of youth athletes by 2020.