Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) is ready to welcome over 1,000 sports enthusiasts to the Ramadan Sports Festival (RSF) 2018 competitions, which kick off this Monday, 21 May.
Over the past week, the organising committee held several meetings with teams and players participating in the RSF tournaments to brief them on rules and regulations. A draw was held for each tournament to determine the teams competing in the group stages and finals.
Men’s Football and Volleyball Competitions
AZF’s outdoor warm-up track and Aspire Dome’s indoor hall will host the men’s football and volleyball competitions during the festival.
The eight-day football tournament will start at 9:30 pm on Monday, 21 May and will run until 28 May. The tournament will see four groups of twelve teams compete in a group stage before moving to the finals.
RSF Men’s Volleyball competition will kick off in Aspire Dome’s indoor hall. Running for five days, this competition features 12 teams competing in four groups, with the winner eventually being decided on 25 May.
Cricket is Back, and Hockey
Thanks to a carefully designed programme featuring a range of popular sports, members of the local community in Qatar will have the opportunity to watch ten teams competing over four days in the 3rd edition of RSF’s Cricket Tournament on 30 May.
Meanwhile, Aspire Dome’s multi-purpose hall will house the Men’s Indoor Hockey Tournament. Featuring eight teams, it will run from 24 – 25 May. Separately, the men’s five-day basketball tournament will be held in the Dome’s indoor hall from 27 May to 1 June with 12 teams of nine players taking part.
Ladies will also have ample opportunity to get involved and stay active during the Holy Month of Ramadan. RSF’s famous volleyball tournament, scheduled on 26 – 31 May, features seven teams. This helps fulfil AZF’s core objective of promoting healthy and active lifestyles among every community in Qatar.
On 1 June, boys aged 9 to 14 will have the chance to put their fitness to the test in the male fitness challenge in two age groups (9-11 and 12-14) at the Aspire Ladies Hall from 9:30 pm until midnight.
In collaboration with the Qatar Paralympic Committee, AZF is also organising the sixth consecutive Table Tennis competition for people with special needs on 23 May. Last year, over 36 participants competed in three categories during the one-day event – visual impairment, physical impairment (sitting/standing) and hearing impairment.
Healthy Ramadan with Aspetar
Aspetar, the orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital and a member of AZF, has launched a new ‘Healthy Ramadan’ campaign to increase awareness on the importance of adopting an active and healthy lifestyle during the Holy Month.
To further promote physical activity among community members, professionals and recreational athletes alike, Aspetar will share short health and awareness videos via its official social media channels, and will then ask viewers questions which they can answer via Facebook and Instagram, to encourage viewers to take heed of its advice.
Step into Health
Aspetar is also organising a sports competition for AZF employees as part of its ‘Step into Health’ programme during Ramadan. This competition will celebrate participants who walk the most each week and uses a smartphone app to calculate the number of steps. Interested sports enthusiasts can register through this link.
The RSF 2018 is sponsored by Ooredoo Qatar and Saleh Al Hamad Al Mana Company, Nissan Qatar.
For more information about RSF 2018, visit aspirezone.qa.