Doha: On Wednesday morning students, teachers, coaches and staff gathered in the auditorium of Aspire Academy to participate in the “Closing Ceremony” of the Academy’s Football Department.

In course of this event, that was opened by Deputy General Director Ali Salem Afifa, people looked back at the highlights of the 2014-15 season. Roberto Olabe, Director of Football, thanked everyone for their effort in the past twelve months and stressed that the help of the teachers is equally important for the students’ development as the help of the coaching and supporting staff. He also expressed thanks to the QFA for their trust and to the clubs of the Qatar Stars League for their cooperation, since their support is very important for the work at the Academy.

The past season was another example for the continuous improvement of the different generations at the Academy. A development that is also shown in the positive results at international tournaments abroad and in the “Tri-Series”. The recent achievements – that also include building up a successful team for the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship and the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup – also proved that the Academy’s players have reached a level where they are able to compete with teams from other continents such as Europe, South America or Asia. “But in order to become better we always have to keep working hard and trying to improve,” stressed Olabe.

At the end of the ceremony the team that won the internal “Final of the season tournament” received their award – a trip to a football game in Europe. But no one of the players left the event empty-handed: as a memory everyone got a team-picture and a the yearbook of the past “Tri-Series” season.