Aspire in the World Fellows Book - 2022

109 108 A window on world football The Aspire in the World Fellows programme aims to explore new frontiers in the global football industry, as we bring together an established community of world- class experts. Our members are driven by a vision of what the football industry can become in the future. The annual Aspire Academy Global Summit is a testament to what this community has accomplished since 2014. We are proud to celebrate the 8th edition of the summit which we continued to organise despite the global coronavirus pandemic, forcing the previous two editions to be hosted virtually. This 2022 summit was a special one for a number of reasons not least because we were once again able to meet face-to-face. First, we had the pleasure of coming back together in person just days before the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Secondly this was the first edition organised in collaboration with FIFA. Third, this summit brought together not only the top 38 clubs and 12 federations from 5 Continents, but we also had the privilege of welcoming representatives from the 32 national associations that qualified for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. There is no better place to host our summit than the city of Doha at the Aspire Academy Football Performance Centre. The fact that world football’s governing body, FIFA agreed to team-up with Aspire in the World Fellows for this summit once again highlights the impact that our group has on the football industry. It also shows that our community has evolved over the years and will continue to do so in the future. Since its inception, the Aspire Academy Global Summit is the cornerstone of the Aspire in the World Fellows programme that features leading football managers, coaches, and players. At all our gatherings we have had the pleasure of hosting a Masterclass and Star Chats at which internationally recognised authorities from the football industry have shared their insights and experiences. This year Arsène Wenger’s Masterclass was an amazing moment that saw theory merge with many years of experiences on the pitch to provide us with a view on the modern approach football, which integrates videos, tactics and data interpretation. The delegates were also treated to four Star Chats over the two days of the summit featuring Juan Sebastian Veron, Jill Ellis, Your Djorkaeff and David Beckham. Former Argentina and Manchester United midfielder Veron highlighted the importance of “being humble that for him meant to love the profession and to respect not only the coach but also the teammates and all the people who are working backstage.” Two-time Women’s World Cup winning coach Ellis shared the message to her team after their victory of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015. “Congratulations you are at the summit but you don’t climb reach the top and sit there to enjoy the view; you enjoy that briefly and then you climb again.” France’s 1998 World Cup-winner Djorkaeff said that “the FIFA World Cup is not just a tournament for one month. It is a lifetime achievement, and it starts with a dream.” Former England captain Beckham reminded us that “there are young kids around Qatar, young kids around the entire world that will be inspired by this World Cup, our game is about inspiring the next generation, then the next generation. This is why a World Cup is important.” The main topics for the Aspire Academy Global Summit 2022 were, “Making an impact with data”, “Preparing players and team for the competition”, and “Optimizing recovery strategies”. The round table discussions offered 18 clubs and federations the opportunity to share their experiences on the stage on their specific topic. Away from the main stage the workshops were also pivotal for strengthening our collaborations in an open discussion format. These workshops offered the chance for smaller groups to debate the three topics from different perspectives, with their key findings presented to all the delegates at the Summit’s conclusion. Throughout 2023 the members of our community will have the chance to access the videos of the presentations made at the summit via the Aspire in the World Fellows website (https://fellows.aspire.qa ). Our archive from the past 8 years means that we can proudly offer more than 340 videos for our members to watch and learn from. In we will also keep producing our “15 Min In Depth” series of videos as we offer further episodes with key experts from other sports, who share their stories to inspire and teach us. We strongly believe we that training elite athletes, no matter the sport, can provide a new and unique points of view on all a wide variety of topics. Over the last 8 years, the Aspire in the World Fellows has become a well-respected community in the field of football performance and science. With the mission of inspiring, the Aspire in the World Fellows programme has the capacity to extend its influence to reach out to different football entities with invaluable contributions to the football community. Valter Di Salvo Executive Director Aspire Academy Global Summit