Friday 15 / November / 2024
Muscat: Al Habsi Football School (HFS), an ambitious soccer project initiated by Sultanate’s legend Ali Al Habsi, is not only attracting a lot of attention but also big sponsors thanks mainly to the hard work and commitment shown by the team under the celebrated Oman national team captain. Within a span of six months, the HFS created quite a buzz and now, with major companies showing interest to become partners, is well on its way to become a successful academy. The latest and first major company to join hands with Al Habsi Football School is Oilfield Inspection Services (OIS), a partnership which Ali Al Habsi himself described as the one between 100 percent Omani company and an all-Omani run football school. Speaking at a signing ceremony organised on company premises on Wednesday, Ali Al Habsi said: “It has been my dream to start a football school... I see it as a way to give back the community and the country, to use my experience as a professional footballer to help create the football stars of tomorrow. “We are glad to have Oilfield Inspection Services as our partner. As an all-Omani run football school, it’s great to have a hundred percent Omani company as our new partner,” he said. Speaking on the occasion, Oilfield Inspection Services CEO Saif Al Tobi, echoed the same views and said ‘we are delighted to become partners of Al Habsi Football School as a hundred percent Omani company’. “When we met Ali Al Habsi’s team we realised that most of their ideas matched with ours. So we readily agreed to become their partners,” he said. “We know it’s a big responsibility. We are not going to focus on immediate the results but we will be looking at long-time goals. So our association with Al Habsi Football School will also be a long-time commitment,” he added. Future expansion The school mainly focuses on children in the age groups of eight to 14 years while giving special training sessions for those up to 17 years. The main objectives of the school, besides teaching the basics to the children, are to prepare physically and mentally strong young footballer for the future with modern and scientific training methods. The school also aims to instil a sense of commitment and professionalism among the children and to help them respect and learn from their opponents while also creating playing opportunities by way of planning mutually beneficial activities with the local clubs and schools. Later revealing the details of future expansion plans, Ali Al Habsi also spoke about the possibility of getting government support sometime in the future. “To expect any kind of support from the government, first we have to prove we are doing good work. But that will come in the future. We have started in a small way and we would like to develop gradually.” “Our aim is to have a full-fledged academy in the future,” he added. Speaking about the immediate expansion plans, he said: “We have signed a two-year agreement with The Sultan’s School Muscat. So we will be operating and running our activities from Sultan’s School. Our next session of classes begin in July.” The Omani custodian also revealed his plans to have an exclusive goalkeeping classes in future. “Definitely that (goalkeeping training) is one of my dream ideas. If we start such a training programme, I want to be there and give my 100 percent. Right now being busy with my playing commitments with my club and country, I won’t be able to do justice to that role.” “But surely I will be doing it in future,” he said while adding, ‘And it will definitely be part of this school’. “Meanwhile, I will be fully committed to the overall development of the school. Whenever I come to Oman, I will be with my team at the school and the students. I hope to make four to five visits to the school during the season,” he said Open to all Ali, the first Omani to play in Europe and English Premier League who currently plays for English Championship side Reading FC, said: “As I said the school is fully run by Omanis. We have Omani coaches, technical and administrative staff. And we are soon going to rope in more Omani coaches, who are very experienced and have been involved with the national teams set up.” “But the school is open to all. Parents of different nationalities can enrol their children for the training courses,” he said. Ali, who previously played for English Premier League sides Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletics, also admitted it’s ‘not going to be an easy responsibility and dream’ to fulfil. “We have very ambitious ideas. With my own playing commitments, it’s definitely not going to be easy responsibility or a dream to achieve. But we are all committed to our objectives. “So far we have done well. Some of the parents, in fact, have comeback with positive feedback, like how their children have benefited and doing well at the respective schools. But the same time, we have to convince them as well as other parents who look for immediate results that it's a long process. It takes time for a child to develop into a good footballer. “The players develop in stages - from four to five years and then up to eight years, they will still be trying to understand and learn. Then it is the duty of the coaches to teach them the basics before taking them forward. So at our school, we would like to focus on small details in all aspects of football and the children, and help them develop into good footballers,” Ali added.
