Aspire and Schalke: Learning and benefiting from one another
09.01.2012
In the beginning was the vision. A vision in which Qatar's best sporting talent would train under one roof, develop as athletes and, in the not too distant future, win titles and medals under the country's flag at major international tournaments. With this objective in mind, a state-of-the-art sports complex was established on the outskirts of the capital, Doha, in 2004: the Aspire Academy for Sports Excellence.
Built in just 24 months, it is a huge, world-class facility. Yet that in itself, of course, is not enough to develop and challenge promising talents. "Ambitious athletes and good coaches, in particular, are just as important as optimum training conditions," says Ivan Bravo. The Spaniard is general director of the Aspire Academy and knows exactly what he is talking about, having worked for Real Madrid before making the move to Qatar. Bravo was responsible for coordinating international activities at the club where Schalke crowd favourite Raul spent many years.
Eleven sports are on the programme of the Aspire Academy, whose facilities include tennis courts, running tracks, seven football pitches, various sports halls and several state-of-the-art gyms. "All the disciplines we coach are Olympic," explains Bravo. With Qatar due to host the 2002 World Cup, the focus is on football, of course. Qatar's Olympic team, the Under-23s, includes no fewer than eight Aspire Academy graduates. "That's something we're very proud of," says the general director, who sees his employer as a 'training foundry' for Qatari football clubs.
A total of 150 players in various age groups are enrolled at the academy. "They're developing very well," says Bravo. To gauge their level of performance, some 15 to 20 youth teams per age group from top clubs around the world visit Doha every year. And the Aspire players have achieved good results in friendly matches. Many of the academy coaches come from far afield, too. "We have German, Dutch, English and Spanish coaches in Qatar," says Bravo. "This ensures our young talents are exposed to different influences and styles of play."
The Gulf state seems well placed, then, for the World Cup in just over eleven years' time. In 2022 the vision is to become reality. "We're working for the future of Qatari sport," Bravo stresses. "And we're making very good progress." All the more so because European youth teams are not the only ones visiting Doha. A number of renowned clubs also send their senior squads to Qatar. Last winter, for example, Manchester United and Bayern Munich staged training camps in the Aspire Zone. This year Bayern are back again, along with Paris Saint-Germain and FC Schalke 04. "We hope to take something from watching these clubs," says Bravo. "The training camps of the top European clubs in Qatar are an opportunity for our athletes and coaches to learn from the best in the world."
The Royal Blues have been made especially welcome on the Arabian Peninsula. "The visit of FC Schalke 04 makes us very proud. Schalke are a big club with a great tradition," says Bravo before adding: "A delegation from Gelsenkirchen visited us in Doha a few weeks ago and had a look at the academy. They also brought the DFB Cup, which went on show at a trade fair here. That went down very well with all the athletes and visitors and everyone was impressed." Besides Schalke and Bayern, incidentally, four other Bundesliga clubs were extremely interested in staging their winter training camps in Doha. They were to be disappointed, however.
"FC Schalke 04 are glad to have a presence in Qatar," says managing board member Alexander Jobst. "We plan to maintain a close exchange with Aspire in future and also hope to position ourselves in the Middle East market." During the training camp the Royal Blues will run a number of joint activities with the academy, such as a panel discussion with coaches from Doha and Gelsenkirchen, a joint training session with Schalke players and Qatari talents, and an autograph signing for young football fans. "We're an open club and we're looking forward to it," says Jobst. And Bravo adds: "Both sides can benefit from a cooperation."
