Qatar Olympic Committee: Mobilizing enthusiasm and desire into a national sporting vision

Sport is arguably one of the few constants in life that can bring people together and truly excite societies. And there is no better place to get a sense of that excitement than with His Excellency Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrah man Al-Thani, Secretary General of the Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC).

"Sport plays a major role in Qatar. We have come a long way and achieved much success through our vision, and we are now taking it to the next level," he says.

The determination and sheer certainty of where he says Qatar is taking the sporting industry leaves no doubt that this country is truly becoming a sporting center par excellence.

Qatar's passion for sports was spearheaded by the Emir, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, who first envisaged developing Qatar into a sporting hub in 1979.

Twenty years later, Qatar is home to some of the world's most advanced sporting facilities and plays host to 27 world-class sports events each year. But as Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman says, in addition to adding and expanding its sports infrastructure, the Qatar Olympic Committee is also mobilizing its people and focusing greater attention on educating and promoting healthy living.

The QOC has concentrated significant resources into educational partnership programs in schools to promote "Schools Olympic Day" and other events that target the country's young and generate greater passion and understanding of sports.

"We are working hand in hand with educational institutions because we want kids here to take part in sport and not focus only on winning. Our aim is to make physical education mandatory in schools for all girls and boys. We want them to love sport and make it a positive habit that they will continue as they grow up," Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman says. The QOC's efforts have been very successful on this front, as virtually all Qatari educational institutions have physical education programs today for boys and girls in elementary and secondary schools.

"We have a saying in Arabic that translates: 'Learning as a child is like carving a stone, but learning when you are older as an adult is like writing on the sand.' That is why we are targeting children and making them aware of physical fitness and sport," he says, "because our sporting legacy will be showcased through the success of our children. And it is they who will be our future athletes and sporting ambassadors and will carry the mantle of promoting fair play and healthy lifestyles."

As more education campaigns rally the local population and youth, the QOC continues on its ambitious infrastructure development program with the construction of a new 30,000-seat indoor football stadium, an anti-doping laboratory and the Qatar Sport Museum. Also in the

These facilities are slated to open by 2012 and will undoubtedly increase the multibillion-dollar investment that Qatar has already injected into its international sporting infrastructure.

The addition of indoor stadiums will help boost the country's year-round thirst for sporting events, especially during the summer months.

The QOC is also working closely with the private sector in developing the nation's sports industry. "LIFE: Be Part of It!" is a QOC-sponsored exhibition that brings global athletes and trainers together with sports technology experts to showcase some of the latest tech trends.

The annual event is held in the capital city of Doha and reinforces Qatar's image as a hub of sporting activity and innovation.

"This is an exhibition that truly completes the formula of sport in Qatar. It is an event that we have hosted and have had many companies participate in from all over the world. We look forward to more stakeholders and customers taking part in it and seeing firsthand the latest technology available in sport and sporting equipment," says Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman.

He says that in the coming years he hopes to see the private sector play a greater role in Qatar's investment in sport.

What is often described as the country's best investment thus far is the ASPIRE Academy for Sports Excellence. This prestigious sports academy recently celebrated its fourth anniversary and has gone a long way in promoting sport and developing future athletes for the region.

"In order to have a successful nation in sport, you need to have a special academy to develop your home athletes. And this is where we have the pool of talent," he says.

"It has been operating for four years, and we expect within the next six years to see some great talent coming from ASPIRE. We are proving that investing in sport, if done correctly, is the best means of investment for any nation," Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman adds.

ASPIRE Academy for Sports Excellence: An international sport destination like no other

If you asked any coach or educator what kind of elite sports academy they would build if they had the resources, time and community support, they would probably say that they wanted an academy with the best facilities and most experienced faculty in the world.

Here in Qatar, the ASPIRE Academy for Sports Excellence has made that vision a reality. ASPIRE has become a shining example of the extent to which sport and sports facilities can make a positive social and cultural impact on a local, national and even international level. As larger numbers of people travel to Qatar to learn more about this unique facility, ASPIRE has transformed into a global ambassador for Qatar's sporting ambitions.

The initial vision for the ASPIRE Academy was very simple: to create a unique facility that would discover and develop talented athletes from a young age and provide them with a total balance of sporting and educational opportunities. Central to achieving that vision was deploying Qatar's resources to create an Academy that could support such an ambitious goal. Plans were put in place to create a major indoor sports dome that could host a full schedule of competitive events simultaneously, a comprehensive sports education program and international-caliber facilities.

ASPIRE began recruiting experts from across the spectrum of sports education, including specialists in sports-specific training, physiology, biomechanics, physiotherapy, nutrition and sports psychology. These experts were able to create fully integrated programs that were built around the needs of young athletes and deployed the kind of technology and training mechanisms used by athletes at the highest levels.

Sports development was matched with a high-quality education ASPIRE's state-of-the-art main structure features lecture halls, classrooms, science laboratories, a library, an amphitheatre, dormitories and a medical center as well as numerous recreational facilities for the students.

ASPIRE welcomed its first students in 2004 and today provides education and sports training to 200 students. Approximately 70% of the students are Qataris, and the rest of the student community is made up from other nationalities in Qatar and scholarship pupils from Asia, South America and Africa.

The opportunity to study and train within the ASPIRE Academy does not come easily. Thousands of children are tested each year, but only a limited number are accepted. Students are evaluated through a number of factors, from body shape to talent, to determine how hard they work and how quickly they pick up new skills. The three-stage specialized program holds testing at schools and sports clubs across the nation in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Supreme Council of Education before a final round of testing is held at the ASPIRE Academy itself.

The scale and scope of the ASPIRE Academy make it stand out as a sporting destination. The distinctive ASPIRE Dome was designed by award-winning French architect Roger Taillibert and covers an area of about 120,000 square meters. With a total seating capacity of 15,000 spectators, the Dome contains 13 individual sports arenas, including a track and field venue, a swimming and diving pool, a gymnastics arena, squash courts, two multi-sport venues, a volleyball and fencing arena and a full-sized indoor football pitch, all within a climate-controlled environment where participants can play sports every day of the year.

ASPIRE also has seven outdoor football pitches, kept to the highest standard to support league-level and national games. Having such a phenomenal resource available year-round has made an important contribution to the student athletes' development. Students can elect to specialize in a specific sport or pursue a multi-sport curriculum, all within the same facility. ASPIRE also has a clear mission to encourage the broader population to be healthy and active and has achieved it by opening its doors to the local community.

The ASPIRE Dome has evolved into a true community resource and is one of the most widely used facilities for fitness classes and sports practice groups in the entire Middle East region, with over 4,000 people regularly taking part. Its busy events calendar has earned ASPIRE praise from sporting luminaries ranging from Diego Maradona and Pele to President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge and President of FIFA Sepp Blatter.

The growing stature of ASPIRE will undoubtedly make it one of the most sought-after sporting destinations by students and athletes alike, and will continue to develop tomorrow's sports heroes.

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