Al Gharafa player and former Dutch international football er Wesley Sneijder giving away a medal during the prize distribution ceremony.
Doha: The Chairman of Qatar School Sports Association (QSSA) and the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Program Rabia Mohammed Al Kaabi said that Qatar is a pioneer in the experience of the Olympic school program, which was established 11 years ago, highlighting its great importance to young people and society.
Al Kaabi said in a statement yesterday, following the awarding of the champions of football competitions held at Aspire Academy for all school grades with the participation of a large number of school students, that 11th edition of the program witnessed a remarkable participation. He expressed happiness at the size of the participation in this year’s edition, which was 3,000 students representing 192 schools, of which 98 percent is the state schools.
Al Kaabi praised the excellent interaction of schools, students, and parents as well as the positive participation that pays off every year, where a number of talents emerge every year, benefiting clubs and teams. He stressed that the great interaction of parents shows their conviction of the importance of sports and its benefits at the mental, physical, moral and psychological levels because it’s one of the most important factors of development, and everyone noted that the Olympic program began to reap the fruits.
On whether the Organizing Committee intends to increase the number of sports in the next edition, Al Kaabi said that the committee is in the process of a comprehensive evaluation of this year’s edition, where the competitions were held in 12 games and the committee will see whether it is necessary to add new games, in addition, there will be a consultation with Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) and the federations concerned.
The results of the football finals were as following, Newton school team defeated Iqra school in the final of the primary stage (first level) to capture the title of the 11th edition of the Olympic program. In the primary stage (second level), Malik bin Anas school team defeated Jabir ibn Hayyan school team 5/4 in penalty shootouts to win the title.
In the preparatory stage (third level), Yarmouk school team captured the title after defeating Abu Bakr Assedeeq school team 3/0 in the final match.
For the secondary level (fourth level), the M.E.S Indian school was crowned with a 1-0 victory over the Birla Public school team in the final.
QSSA Secretary General Ali Al Hitmi said the football finals achieved their goal in this edition of the program, especially as the participation was high from public and private schools.
He congratulated the winning teams in all stages, stressing that the Olympic Program is a national program that covers all the schools in Qatar.
The six-month program of individual and group sports draws the participation of thousands of students to achieve its mission, where a close link between sports and other specific social fields is established in order to promote educating students and raising their awareness about other social areas of life. The program also illustrates how these areas can coexist with sport.
Al Hitmi said the wise leadership of the country believes that investing in human resources and generations through sports is one of the main methods to achieve development goals.
He added that sports is capable of becoming one of the main ways of achieving social and individual development as all the benefits that come from sports are goals for a healthy and developed community as sports plays an important role in developing social and educational systems.
QSSA Executive Director Abdulrahman Al Muftah reiterated the success of the 11th edition of the Olympic program and thanked QOC and all the entities that supported the implementation of the program in a unique way, which, he said, would undoubtedly benefit the students greatly.
