|
The ‘Youth Athletics Coaching Conference’, a two-day-long event hosted by Aspire Academy in co-operation with Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF), started yesterday and brought 270 registered people including coaches from all over the world to Aspire Academy. |
Participants and speakers were officially welcomed in the morning by Ivan Bravo, Director General of Aspire Academy and Dahlan al-Hamad, President of the Qatar Athletics Federation, in the auditorium of the Academy.
“It’s a great pleasure to have a gathering like this here at Aspire Academy and I want to thank the QAF for making things like this possible. Coming together and sharing knowledge is a fantastic opportunity and I am sure that you have two great days ahead of you,” said Ivan Bravo.
“Thank you all for coming and a special thanks to Aspire Academy. Earlier parents of athletes were very concerned about the education of their children. But with Aspire Academy they have the perfect opportunity to combine both training and education and that also benefits our federation,” said Dahlan al-Hamad, who stressed the importance of the role of coaches for the athletes and sport in general.
“Developing athletes comes with great responsibility, but you also have the chance to change the life the future generation. This conference is an important stage for all of you and a great chance to exchange experiences and I am sure you will benefit a lot from being here.”
Before the start of the break-out session that included popular names such as John Godina, a four-times World Champion in shot put and CEO of the ‘World Athletics Centre’, Kevin Tyler, the former Head of Coaching at UK Athletics or Qatar Middle Distance Coach Jama Aden, world class cricket-coach Paddy Upton took the stage to give the keynote speech and the South African explained his idea about the role of a coach and what kind of environment a coach should build up that athletes are able to perform the best way they can.
He concluded stressing to “Focus on good things and solutions rather than problems.”
Aspire becomes ‘IAAF Accredited Training Centre’
In course of the “Youth Athletics Coaching Congress” it was announced that Aspire Academy was recognized by the “International Association of Athletics Federations” (IAAF) as “Accredited Training Centre”.
The official announcement was made by IAAF Vice-President and President of the Qatar Athletics Federation, Dahlan Al-Hamad, and Malek El Hebil, Director of Development at IAAF. Chris Earle, Director of Sport at Aspire Academy, thanked them and IAAF for this special recognition.
“This will build the framework for a stronger partnership between Aspire Academy and IAAF and we are looking forward to welcoming more coaches and athletes from all over the world to our facilities in the future”, said Earle.
