Qatar
Aspire hosting meet on sports, health research
Aspire hosting meet on sports, health research
By Sports Reporter/Doha
Aspire Academy is hosting Qatar’s first ever workshop on ‘Youth, Sport and Health - A Global Problem’. The three-day workshop, which began yesterday, is the result of Aspire Academy teaming up with the British Council as part of the Council’s ‘Researcher Links’ initiative. |
Aspire Zone Foundation’s CEO Khalid Abdullah al-Sulaiteen opened the workshop by stressing the importance of Qatar’s co-operation with the United Kingdom in the fields of health and sports.
He said: “Our youth, sports and health is especially important to us. And today, we want to share with you the results of the latest research in the field of sports around the world. We have a wonderful opportunity to identify and discuss the difficulties facing specialists and policy makers within the sports industry, and combine our efforts to find the best solutions.”
Al-Sulaiteen spoke about the Foundation’s role in promoting sports, saying: “Aspire Zone Foundation is proud to adopt ideas that can help propel sports on every level. This is reflected in our constant efforts in organising conferences and seminars, and launching new initiatives involving youth, sports and health.”
“Aspire is proud to organise events such as Doha Goals and the Aspire4Sports Conference and Exhibition, in addition to launching numerous initiatives to encourage the community to embrace different sports. The ‘Step into Health’ programme and the Aspire Active programme are just two of our highly successful initiatives that bring the whole community together.”
Over three days, several presentations and discussions will be held about the scientific aspects of sport and health research in Qatar and the UK. Research scholarships offered by various institutions in Qatar will also be presented during the workshop.
Aspire Academy is hoping that the workshop will also help to uncover potential research opportunities relevant to Qatar’s research priorities. Professor Tim Cable, director of sports science at Aspire Academy, said: “We are keen for scientists in the UK and research fund entities in Qatar to join forces and find a mechanism to conduct research about healthy lifestyles and sports in the region. Ultimately, we hope to apply these results in Qatar, working in harmony with Qatari society.”
Researchers from the sports science’s department at Aspire Academy will present the results of varying research about encouraging children and adolescents in Qatar to be physically active. Badr Jassim al-Hay, director of education and student care at Aspire Academy commented: “The Academy’s participation in this workshop is helping to make the research community aware of the role we play in the field of research, alongside our role in developing sport talents and academic education.”
Al-Hay added: “At Aspire Academy, we are fully equipped to conduct research and have skilled researchers working in state-of-the-art laboratories, formulating theories and design applications, so that coaches and their students can adopt and further develop them.”
The sports science department at Aspire Academy offers field and performance evaluations, in additions to various anthropometric and growth measurements to Aspire Academy students. More than 17,000 tests and testing sessions are held yearly.