QNA/Doha


Aspire Academy will today inaugurate a two-week long training camp run jointly with the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), the governing body of sports in Asia.
Organised for a specially selected group of the region’s rising athletic stars, the camp runs until November 29 and will provide training and conditioning in sports including the high jump and table tennis.    
The camp is a part of a joint initiative between Aspire Academy and the OCA designed to give the 45 member countries of the OCA the opportunity to send selected numbers of athletes aged 15 to 17 plus their coach for training at Aspire Academy’s state-of-the-art facilities. One hundred and twenty athletes, who were nominated by their respective national Olympic committees, will participate in the camp with the guidance and support of Aspire Academy’s expert coaches.   
The camp involves extensive training, which will take place at the Academy’s advanced facilities, including Aspire Dome and the outdoor athletics tracks. During the camp, the Academy’s sport science team will also collect data on the athletes’ performance and share this with the athletes and their personal coaches.  
The OCA Aspire Academy camp will enhance the visiting athletes’ development and performance, allowing them to train in conditions they are unaccustomed to. Along with insight provided by the sports science data, the camp will help identify specific areas of development for each athlete to focus on. This will enable them to develop tailored and optimised training programmes and fulfil their championship potential.   
Commenting on the camp, Markus Egger, Director of Sport at Aspire Academy, said: “We are delighted to host this training and competition camp and to work so closely again with the OCA. The number of participants has seen a significant increase, which reflects the overall success of the camp’s contribution to the development of future generation of elite athletes from the region. We look forward to another fruitful two weeks, and wish all athletes the best of luck”.   
The training camp will also feature competitions between the participants in each sport, providing them with the opportunity to put into practice some of the techniques and training they received during their time spent at the Academy.  
Aspire Academy regularly hosts training camps and competitions designed to support the development of young athletes. In the last few years, the Academy has brought together some of the world’s finest young talent to train and compete alongside the student-athletes currently enrolled at Aspire Academy.
This provides the ideal opportunity for both groups to benefit from each other’s experience, and important learning and development opportunities for Qatar’s future sports stars. It also helps to fulfil Aspire Academy’s vision to be recognised as the world’s leading sports academy.