The latest Aspire Academy Tri-Series football tournament of the 2015-2016 season, which concluded on Wednesday, saw competition between the Academy’s U-15, U-14 and U-13 and their counterparts from Thai football club Chonburi FC and Swedish football club Malmo FF.
At the conclusion of the tournament, Aspire Academy’s U-13 team earned the title in their category, while Chonburi FC and Malmo FF both returned home with a title of their own, winning the U-14 and U-15 titles, respectively.
“This is Malmo FF’s second Tri-Series participation, building on the participation of our U-19 teams in the previous season. The performance of the opponents has been of a very high level, and resulted in a series of closely-fought matches and well-deserved overall victories for all participating teams,” Mats Engqvist, Director of Youth Academy at Malmo FF, analysed the tournament.
Witthaya Laohakul, Director of Chonburi FC, said: “This is our first participation in the Aspire Academy Tri-Series tournament, and our experience has been wonderful. The facilities here are world-class, and the tournament has been very well organised. The matches have been tough, and the opponents have presented a very good quality of technical gameplay. I am really proud of Chonburi FC’s performance.”
The Tri-Series competitions play a major role in the development of Aspire Academy’s student-athletes. Giving teams from the Academy exposure to different playing styles, management philosophies and tactics from around the globe and the opportunity to play against opposition from some of the world’s most established footballing countries helps the Academy’s players develop their talent and fulfil their potential. It is a vital part of Aspire Academy’s commitment to enabling the sporting success of its student-athletes.
During their stay in Qatar, the visiting teams stayed at the Torch and Grand Heritage Hotels. On the days when they were not competing in the tournament, the teams were given a tour of Doha and visited a number of the city’s best-known tourist attractions and important landmarks, learning about Qatari history and culture.
Chonburi FC is a Thai football club based in the province of Chonburi, and competes in the Thai Premier League. Malmo FF is a Swedish football club based in the city of Malmo, and competes in the Allsvenskan (All-Swedish) League. It is considered the most successful football club in Sweden, and has won the highest number of trophies.
In recent years, the Tri-Series tournament has brought some of the world’s finest youth teams together to compete against the student-athletes currently enrolled at Aspire Academy.
Doing so provides unique opportunities to support the development of local players, aligning with Aspire Academy’s vision to be recognised as the world’s leading sports academy for the development of youth athletes by 2020.