DOHA (Qatar): The Qatar Golf Association (QGA) has embarked on a robust youth development program that will encourage young golfers starting at five-year age to pursue their careers in the sport.
The dedicated team of coaches and officials are back after a Coronavirus forced break at the Doha Golf Club, where they train young children from Sunday to Wednesday.
Besides, the QGA has tied up with Aspire Academy to launch a massive talent hunt in the country.
“We’ve a partnership with Aspire Academy. We meet them for the feedback on the recruitment process for new golf trainees. But the last few months we couldn’t move any headway due to the pandemic,” said Mike Shouriey, Technical Director at QGA.
QCA partnership with Aspire Academy
“The Aspire coaches and officials visit the schools to conduct a battery of tests on 4000 to 5000 students. Based on the test results the list to narrowed down to 250 and finally to around 25 to 40 students, who are selected for sports academies based at the Aspire Academy for a particular year. The 200 odd students who fails to make it to the final list are then approached. They are recruited for golf depending on their interests.”
Besides the juniors, QGA also trains young women while the Qatar national women’s team also go through the grind at the Doha Golf Club.
“We have about six female players playing for Qatar at the international level. It’s not easy to recruit women players but we are in touch with the various entities like Aspire Academy and schools to recruit more female players. The level of play for the females has to pick up as we are trying to get them to a top level where they can compete or maybe turn professionals,” added Shouriey.
India-born Anwar trains golfers since 2005
India-born coach Anwar Ali, who has been training young golfers since 2005, felt that the young players need time to develop as there’s no easy route.
“Posture, grip and swing are the key things in golf. It’s not magic and the golfers need to work hard. The important thing is to learn the techniques,” said Anwar, who hails from Jamshedpur, eastern Indian city.
He felt that Qatar possess a talented bunch of golfers, and the future looks bright.
“We’ve a few promising golfers with us. They started at a very young age and are showing signs of improvement,” added Ali, who came to Qatar in 1996.
Qatar national team chief coach Hassan Benrokiya also acknowledged the great development work that has been done by the QCA.
“Qatar golf has improved a lot in the last 10 years. In the Middle East, we are holding the title of Best Player for at least 6-7 years while in the the Arab region our golfers have given their best,” said Hassan.
