(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The Qatar School Sports Association (QSSA) has renewed its partnership with the Aspire Academy of Sports Excellence and the Qatar Football Association (QFA) Development Committee, it was announced yesterday at a press conference held at Aspire.
The press conference was attended by the Ali al-Hitmi, QSSA Secretary-General; Saeed al-Marri, Director of Football Affairs, Aspire Academy; and Captain Fahd Thani al-Zarra, Chairman of the Football Development Committee of the Qatar Football Federation in the presence of a number of officials both from the schools and academic union as well as the development committee. This tripartite partnership between the Federation, the Academy and the Development Committee is the primary objective of the Schools Olympic Program — in its ninth edition of the football competition — is to search and spot new talents.
Providing details al-Hitmi said, 'We are launching this collaboration with Aspire and our affiliate development committee to further the success of the 12th edition of the School Olympic Program this year. Last year, the co-operation was excellent and the number of participants in the programme was high. It was quite remarkable that many talents were discovered and this represents an important objective of the Olympic programme.
'Such co-operation contributes to the development, and for us in the Organising Committee of the Olympic Program the goal is to spread the culture of sport and to make it a way of life, especially in football, the first popular game, which finds a large turnout of students.
'We hope that the programme will come out distinctly in this year's edition as well and be the starting point for us in the football competitions. I thank everyone for the great co-operation with the Federation, especially by the Aspire Academy and the FIFA Development Committee headed by Fahd Thani, he added.
Al-Hitmi also pointed out that the Olympic programme offers us a minefield of talent. 'Schools are the real mine of talent discovery and this is done through the Olympic Games in all games and not only football and provided to us by many talented players.
On his part, Saeed al-Marri praised the partnership of QSSA and the Development Department of the Football Federation. 'This partnership is distinguished and the result has been the discovery of many talented players and their inclusion in the Academy. We hope that the new version will reveal more talent that will help expand of the base of the game and contribute to the development, he said.
'There are two scouts who follow the matches to choose the best talent. We believe in the importance of school sports and in providing them with the outstanding talents that need to be discovered. This is our role in the academy, he added.
Captain Fahd Thani al-Zarra stressed that the main aim of the Program was to take students out to the playfield. 'We are pleased to partner with the Federation and the Academy in this important and ambitious program such as the Olympic programme, which provides us with outstanding talents that contribute to the development of football and build a distinct base for the game, he said.
'The aim is to take students out of the school environment to the playfields and make sure that they are under the eyes of the scouts either from the Academy of Aspire or from the Union.
'We are keen to send a circular to the clubs on the dates of the Olympic programme so that everyone will follow the programme and watch the matches and choose the best players and make them join them to the clubs and this is a major and important goal of the Program, he added.
He pointed that the objectives of the Program are known and thereby the discovery of talent. 'It is a meaningful programme and has important output through the games and not only football. The gains through the Olympic Program are great for everyone and I hope that the start of this year is distinct and the best for all. We believe in the value of the Program and the goals it achieves as it serves sports.
The Schools Olympic Program under the Qatar Olympic Committee aims to establish a sports culture that calls for sports for health and life.
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