Jun 2008 - OPEC

of an increasingly office-bound work culture and changes
in local diet has led to concerns around potential health
problems, such as diabetes and heart disease. Health,
exercise and sporting endeavour have a role to play in
combating this.”
In the beginning, the ASPIRE management team faced
challenges encouraging even their own students to eat
the correct type of foods and adopt healthy lifestyles. But
through education and by working hard with students’
families, things have changed. And it appears that these
changes are filtering through into the wider community.
These days, the ASPIRE dome doubles as a community
resource that has become one of the most widely-used
facilities for keep fit classes and sports practice groups in
the entire Middle East region. “One of the most remarkable
achievements has been encouraging a diverse range
of participants, across all age groups and genders,” says
Bleicher. “[We] currently provide fitness training exercises
for 2,500 boys and girls and the academy also hosts daily
exercises for schools.” It seems the whole of Doha is on
a health drive.
ASPIRE is just one part of the equation. Other sporting
infrastructure includes the 50,000-seater Khalifa
International Stadium, the Doha Golf Club — home to
one of just three major European Tour events staged
in the region — and the Khalifa Tennis and Squash
Stadium, to name just three. But this is not just some
type of uncoordinated sports sprawl. Qatar has a game
plan, so to speak. Alongside rivals Madrid, Tokyo and
Rio de Janeiro, it is in the running to host the 2016
Olympic Games. And Bid Chairman Hassan Ali Bin Ali
likes his chances. He was recently quoted as saying
that although Qatar is a small country, it represents
the entire Arab world: “Our visionary Emir has set the
country on a path of monumental change to be a role
model for the region in sport, medicine and technology,”
he explained.
Those at ASPIRE, confident as ever, believe that the
first part of that transformation has already taken shape.
Another of the academy’s stout-hearted advertising slogans
proudly proclaims that ‘the map of the sporting
world has changed’.
All photographs in this article, courtesy ASPIRE.
OPEC bulletin 6/08
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