As the whistle blows indicating the end of the football match, 35 young boys celebrate not just their stellar performance on the pitch, but also being one step closer to turning their dreams into reality.
Qatar Airways has partnered with Aspire Academy’s Aspire Football Dreams programme this year and were on hand to welcome the youngsters as they arrived at Aspire Academy in Senegal for their final assessment in hopes of getting one step closer to a career in professional football.
Aspire Football Dreams coaches, staff and more than 4,000 volunteers assessed 400,000 13-year-old football players at some 650 football fields in 14 countries over the last year. Those selected to enter the academy this year will form the Qatar Airways & Aspire Academy – Football Dreams Africa team and will be flown to Barcelona to play against FC Barcelona’s youth team, courtesy of the airline.
Launched in 2007, Aspire Football Dreams provides young football players from developing countries with the opportunity to reach the heights of international football through training and development at their academy in Senegal.
Each year, the programme selects up to 20 13-year-old boys who go through a rigorous assessment process in hopes of being selected to attend the academy where they train, compete, study and learn to manage their lives and careers successfully, with the goal of playing for a professional club or their national team one day.
Having already tested 2mn football players since the beginning of the programme eight years ago, Aspire Football Dreams is the largest ever talent search in football, according to a statement.
Qatar Airways Group chief executive Akbar al-Baker said, “Qatar Airways is extremely proud to be partnering with Aspire Football Dreams in Africa, a programme that not only encourages sport, which is in line with Qatar National Vision 2030, but that also provides a life-changing opportunity for youth who are willing to work hard to nurture and develop their natural talents.”
“We are delighted and proud that Qatar Airways partners with us in this unique initiative. Giving young people in Africa the chance to fulfil their potential and pursue their dream of playing football on the world stage is an important objective for Aspire,” said Ivan Bravo, director-general of Aspire Academy.
After flying in from all over the African continent to Senegal, the boys met with their new teammates and spent the week training before taking to the pitch in two matches against the Spanish youth team, RCD Espanyol.
Coaches had the opportunity to assess each of the players as they worked together to defeat RCD Espanyol 1-0 in the first match, and held them off during the final match, walking off the field nil-nil.
With the majority of boys coming from disadvantaged areas, many train specifically for the Aspire Football Dreams annual try-outs in the hope that their talent on the pitch will be recognised by one of the scouts. By actively searching for football talent in towns and villages, Aspire Football Dreams is finding plenty of football talent in Africa’s large untapped pool of skilled players.
Results of the Aspire Football Dreams programme have already been made evident with a number of graduating students being signed to professional teams in Europe, including Diawandou Diagne, who signed with the FC Barcelona B team this past July.
Qatar Airways is also offering fans a chance to fly to Barcelona to watch the friendly match between the Qatar Airways & Aspire Academy – Football Dreams Africa team and FC Barcelona youth team.
Fans can support this project by subscribing at http://www.qatarairways.com/footballdreamsafrica or watching http://youtu.be/ICVwfmY1wSA for more information.
The players followed a rigorous training programme during their stint in Senegal.
