Qatar football team coach Felix Sanchez (right) taking part in the 4th ‘Association of Sports Institutes in Asia’ (ASIA) congress at Aspire Academy yesterday.
Doha: The 4th ‘Association of Sports Institutes in Asia’ (ASIA) congress got off to fine start on first day at Aspire Academy yesterday with Qatar national football coach, Felix Sanchez telling the participants that, Qatar’s lifting of the Asian Cup has hugely impacted the sports development in the country.
“The purposeful plan and intention shown by Qatar and Aspire Academy in choosing to be patient in building and developing a team over going for immediate results proved to be worthwhile. This pathway has made other sports code in the country seek to emulate this approach,” said coach Felix who is also the U-23 coach of Qatar.
During the same session Dr Alberto Mendez-Villanueva who is the head of Fitness at Qatar Football Association and works closely with Sanchez, sought to correct the misunderstanding in some quarters about challenges presented by training during Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“Contrary to the notion out there amongst some that there can’t be training during Ramadan, we in Qatar have come to appreciate and understand that is not the case. What we do is to adjust the training times to when its best to training just as intense as any other period but in consideration of the fasting time period observed by players. So, for instance we run full training at night with the players applying themselves like at any other time, so from this perspective you can see how time of Ramadan has often been misunderstood or should l say misrepresented”.
The Congress was officially opened by Aspire Academy Deputy Director General and Chairman of the 4th ASIA Congress, Ali Salem Afifa who in his welcoming speech to the participants, encouraged the congress to continue sharing around the development of a high-performance environment for aspiring athletes on the continent of Asia.
The President of ASIA, Dr Takahiro Waku in his opening address expressed his gratitude and delight to be in Qatar at the world renowned Aspire Academy.
“On behalf of the Association of Sports Institutes in Asia’ l want to thank the people of Qatar and Aspire Academy for hosting us at this fabulous institution. We are aware of the role Aspire Academy has been playing in Qatar’s rise as a sporting giant in the world and we are most pleased to hold our 4th Congress here.”
The Congress also heard from Aspire Academy graduate and Qatar’s number 1 Squash player who is currently 46 in the World, Abdulla Al-Tamimi who alongside his coach former World No. 1 Squash player Geoff Hunt.
“What stands out for me in my journey in my sport so far is how the realization that through the national sport development programs the country has started in several places – in my case it was at Aspire Academy and where l working with coach Geoff Hunt l came to realise the opportunities to apply myself fully to be the best l could be in my sport.”
