Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) welcomed hundreds of fans as they rushed to Aspire Zone’s indoor and outdoor pitches on Monday evening to participate in the volleyball and football tournaments, which are part of AZF’s annual Ramadan Sports Festival, a two-week sporting spectacular that boasts the largest number of sporting events in Qatar during the Holy Month.
Four teams met at 9:30pm on Aspire Zone’s outdoor warm-up track to compete on the first day of the men’s football tournament, which runs until Monday. In the first match, team ‘Al Shabaab’ secured a 9-1 win over team ‘Qatar’, while team ‘Al Taraji’ laboured to a 3-2 victory over team ‘Diamond’.
The men’s volleyball competition also saw great participation from local community members. The competition kicked off on Monday evening with four matches between teams Zaharias (0) and Ooredoo (2), Ivaq (2) and A Team (0), Sri Lankans Friends Club (1) and Riders (2), and Eagles (2) and Bullets (0).
Other activities due to take place in the Aspire Dome, the world’s largest indoor multi-purpose dome, include a one-day table tennis competition for people with special needs, which has been organised with the Qatar Paralympic Committee, on Wednesday, the Aspire Futsal Tournament for employees and a two-day men’s indoor hockey tournament, both starting tomorrow. 
From Saturday, the five-day women’s volleyball tournament will begin. This will be followed by the six-day men’s basketball tournament, starting on Sunday, and the four-day cricket tournament from May 29 onwards. The women’s gym has also allocated fitness classes to give young women between the ages of 9 and 14 an enjoyable and active experience during Ramadan.
Aspetar, the orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital and member of AZF, launched a new ‘Healthy Ramadan’ campaign to increase awareness of the importance of adopting an active and healthy lifestyle during the holy month.
Aspetar will also share short health awareness videos through its social media channels, and will engage and interact with the audience through the Facebook and Instagram Story feature. 
Meanwhile, Aspetar will organise a sports competition for AZF employees as part of its ‘Step into Health’ programme during Ramadan. This competition will celebrate participants who walk the furthest distances each week, and uses a smartphone app to calculate the number of steps taken.
Those interested in taking part in the Ramadan Sports Festival can register by visiting www.aspirezone.qa/rsf2018. The RSF 2018 is sponsored by Ooredoo Qatar (Official Sponsor) and Saleh Al Hamad Al Mana Company, Nissan Qatar (Main Partner).