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As Qatar gears up to host the first ever FIFA World Cup tournament held in the Middle East - an event expected to leave an exceptional legacy for future generations - National Sport Day provides a further reminder of the marked impact that sport is having on society.
Developing the human capital to sustain this direction is a major goal of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), a Qatar Foundation member. Research and graduate programs at the College of Science and Engineering (CSE), College of Health and Life Sciences (CHLS), and across HBKU, are unique in the region. Their goals align with the national vision for sport as being a key driver for Qatar’s economic diversification and other areas of development such as social, human, and environmental.
College of Science and Engineering: Preparing industry leaders
CSE’s Master of Science in Sport and Entertainment Management (MSEM), a joint degree with the University of South Carolina, supports the development of Qatar’s sport industry by qualifying professionals to take up management and leadership roles. The program trains students in skills and experiences covering the legal, financial, operational, and management aspects of the sport and entertainment industries, including potential growth areas such as esports. Graduates can pursue a variety of career paths in the private and public sport sectors, all the way from grassroots level sport programs to elite levels.
Faculty and students work closely with industry partners such as the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Josoor Institute, Generation Amazing, Qatar Olympic Committee, and Qatar Sports Technology on applied research. Students gain experience and simultaneously make valuable social contributions.
Dr. Kamilla Swart-Arries, Associate Professor and Director of the MSEM, said: “Sport indeed has the power to change the world. Our students have demonstrated this through their commitment to various initiatives. These include volunteering as coaches for Generation Amazing programs and at the FIFA Arab CupTM, conducting research in collaboration with Education City Golf Club to enhance sustainability practices at the CBQ Masters 2021, and interning at sKora, a Qatar Science and Technology Park-funded sportstech startup.”
An illustrative case is an MSEM student who gained valuable event management experience by helping to organize a successful tournament for sKora in Ghana, including a football boot shoe drive to benefit aspirant Ghanaian players from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Levelling the playing field
Dr. Jens Schneider, Assistant Professor at CSE, is collaborating with sKora to democratize the sport agent market.
“Worldwide, around 200 million aspiring players compete for only 200,000 professional positions across all leagues and divisions. The idea is to use modern data analytics to match player profiles to opportunities such as free training or soccer schools. To this end, sKora has created the largest transfer market database in the world. We are now in the process of developing semi-automatic tools to generate databases of opportunities for aspiring players,” says Dr. Schneider.
With funding from the HBKU Innovation Center, they are developing an affordable, data-driven solution to track players’ development and offer individually tailored opportunities and career pathways that create value for players, clubs, and sponsors.
Improving sports performance
Another applied research project is an AI-based sports analytics model developed by Jassim Al-Mulla, a Qatari PhD student, and his supervisor, Dr. Tanvir Alam, Assistant Professor in the Information and Computing Technology Division. The model analyzes and recommends key performance metrics for football players in the Qatar Stars League (QSL) to improve their chance of winning matches.
Dr. Alam explains: “Utilizing such models at grassroots level will help coaches identify local talent. Young players can discover their strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. The proposed machine learning model will support professional players, coaching staff, and team managers in Qatar with specific performance metrics that may win a match in the upcoming FIFA World Cup. This could encourage new startups based on sports analytics, to ultimately boost the economy of Qatar. These are research outcomes with a potentially huge social impact.”
College of Health and Life Sciences: Enhancing human health
Recognizing that the relationships between exercise participation, physical activity, and human health can be complex, CHLS’ program in Exercise Science is developing knowledge towards achieving health benefits for individuals to sustain their physical and mental health.
The importance of active lifestyles
Through the internationally competitive Master of Science (MS) in Exercise Science, graduates develop knowledge and skills to be ambassadors for healthy lifestyle habits, through research and within the community. The MS is a joint degree with the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina - the top-ranked US university in the Global Ranking of Sport Science Schools and Departments.
Dr. Merilyn Jean Lock, Post-Doctoral Researcher at CHLS, explains: “While sport and performance are interesting and important areas, our students also develop an understanding that you don’t need to be an athlete to be active. It is well-established that being physically active plays a critical role in maintaining good physical and mental health, but poor lifestyle factors are contributing to rising incidences of chronic non-communicable diseases that are largely preventable.”
Epidemiological studies have demonstrated the role of physical activity in lowering the risk of many chronic conditions including obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, frailty in older age, and certain types of cancer. Reviews of experimental trials have found that exercise training can facilitate improvements in cardiovascular risk factors including systolic blood pressure.
The Qatar National Physical Activity Guidelines recommend moderate intensity exercise for at least 30 minutes around five days per week, or vigorous intensity aerobic exercise for at least 20 minutes around three days per week for most people to maintain health and prevent disease.
“The combined knowledge and experience from the University of South Carolina and highly qualified CHLS faculty put graduates in the position to contribute to achieving the National Vision and helping more people to meet these guidelines,” says Dr. Lock.
Enhancing health and welfare in Qatar
Student research projects advance understanding in fundamental exercise physiology, sports rehabilitation and biomechanics, epidemiology of physical activity, and synthesis of evidence to guide evidence-based practice.
“Our graduates can apply their skills across a variety of contexts as researchers, health promoters, and exercise professionals within local industry. HBKU’s Exercise Science program aligns well with the first pillar of the National Vision 2030 - Human Development – and its aims of developing a physically and mentally healthy, well-educated population, and capable and motivated workforce.”
Shaping the future of sport management
In March 2023, HBKU, with Qatar University, will bring experts and practitioners together for the World Association of Sport Management (WASM) Conference.
Dr. Swart-Arries, Conference Co-Chair, says: “The theme “Bringing the World Together: Global and Local Perspectives on Sport Management” underscores our resolve to use sport as a catalyst for meaningful change. Working in the industry requires a specific skill set and given Qatar’s positioning as a major international sporting hub, HBKU is committed to developing the education of future leaders and managers within the sport industry.”