Representatives of more than 30 universities from across Qatar visited Aspire Academy to showcase the opportunities available to student-athletes after graduation.
In addition to senior student-athletes, parents, graduates, and teachers attended the University Fair.
The gathering is a key part of Aspire Academy’s commitment to ensuring its student-athletes have the widest possible choice of high-quality paths to follow after they graduate.
Among those exploring their future options was 2019 graduate Bassem Hemeida, fresh from winning gold and silver medals in athletics at the Asian Games in Japan.
“One of the key things that I learnt at Aspire Academy is that my education is as important as my athletics career,” he explained.
“Since I graduated, I have spent time in the USA studying while continuing my athletic development, and success on the track has meant I have dedicated more time to training and competing.”
“Now I am exploring how I can effectively combine sport and education moving forward.”
“Aspire Academy taught us to prepare not only for life after sports but also for when our plans do not work out as we dreamed.”
One of those explaining what opportunities there are was 2022 squash graduate Mohamed Ouda, who is now Senior Admission and Enrollment Officer for Arkansas State University, Qatar.
He highlighted how Aspire Academy equips its alumni for the future.
“People think Aspire Academy only focuses on sports, but they offer so much more and stress the need to balance education and sport,” he said.
“There are classes that people take at Aspire, for example, the Leadership and Development Programme, that other schools do not really offer.”
“It gave me the confidence to speak in public, do presentations and even things like this fair interacting with a wide variety of people.”
“My advice to those student-athletes here today: they need to continue their studies but also continue in sports, keep making us proud, winning competitions for us.”
“If they can keep that balance between both, it is going to take them places they haven’t even dreamed of yet.”
Several parents also took time to look at the opportunities for their sons, including Ghaith Meknassi, whose son Rayen is a padel player and due to graduate in 2027.
“The education at Aspire is good; for my son and for me, it's good that he can align the sport with his academic development,” he added.
“It's very important for the psychology of the children, and he has found a good balance at Aspire Academy, but it is important for that to continue after graduation.”
“Our plan is to continue his padel career and achieve high enough grades that he can study engineering as well.”
Grade 12 footballer Shaher Roustom outline why he believes such fairs are important.
“I need to see what options there are after I graduate and to see where my future can go and what best fits that future,” he said.
“Of course I want to continue my football career and reach the top, but there should always be a plan B in case plan A doesn't work, and university's very important in case football doesn't work out.”
“It's definitely not easy to combine the two, but it's possible if you are determined, and with the support of Aspire Academy at every single stage, things are a little easier.”
