Chris Quinn, Athletic Director
In what promises to be an exciting – and different – year ahead for sport at ACS Doha, Athletic Director, Chris Quinn, shares his vision for a new school year…and new school.
For students returning to ACS Doha in September 2020, there will be a few changes to how sport will look, from a retired dolphin to landmark facilities.
Go Wolves!
At the beginning of the academic year, the ACS Doha Dolphins – the mascot familiar to the many students who have represented the school in sports over the years – has undergone something of a metamorphosis. Step forward the ACS Doha Wolves!
What prompted that change?
"The decision to move to a new mascot was born out of listening to the community of parents, staff and students" Chris says, conscious that middle school and senior students in particular want a mascot that evokes competitive spirit, teamwork and conviction. "Another factor was that the dolphin was chosen over eight years ago, when the school population was made up vastly of EC and LS students,” explains Chris.
‘In the wolf, we have found something that is so much more than a mascot that applies very widely, across many aspects of school life": Said Chris. "The Wolf was the outstanding choice ".
The need for a mascot with more ‘bite’ became clear, and with exciting changes happening at ACS Doha, with the new ACS brand introduced last year and a new campus on the horizon, the timing was right, and Chris feels they have found something that all divisions of the school can identify with on some level.
“I think it was truly serendipitous that the community decided to get behind the wolf. There’s quite a lot you can do with it, the characteristics and dynamics of wolf packs are fascinating and I would encourage even a little light research into this, by everyone. Even face masks we’ve ordered have the wolf mascot on them with the slogan ‘safety in the pack’!
“We wanted something creative and inspiring that came from the community, and it came from the kids more than anything,” Chris adds.
We recently launched our Wolves mascot on social media. If you missed it, click here.
Creating a hub
As for the vision for sport in the year ahead, it’s a case of what we want to do balanced against what we safely can do at the moment, given the current COVID-19 restrictions. Looking ahead to life beyond the pandemic, Chris is keen to create what he refers to as ‘a hub’.
“The big problem that we had prior to the move to Al Kheesa, was that our facilities on campus were limited, so a big part of my job was going out and securing agreements with external facilities providers that cost us a lot of money and there were implications for transporting students too. The programme was therefore not a seamless experience for students and their families. We’re excited that our new campus will allow us to offer a programme that is far more accommodating for families and centric to our community.”
Chris’ vision flips the existing model on its head and, at the same time, seeks to provide a COVID-secure environment for the school community, with enviable facilities on campus that are maintained and cleaned by the school, with no more need for students to go further afield.
“Our intention is that the new campus is a magnet for people to come to. We envision the school day as something that commences even before drop off for classes and continues well after the last After School Activity (ASA) session is done. Our plan is to have early bird sessions, parent sessions after drop off, ASAs, big game nights and extended community provision and use of the facilities into the evening. The key thing is creating a nucleus, a focal point within our community, for everyone involved at ACS and where everyone feels a welcome part of something bigger than themselves.”
On the edge of a big opportunity
ACS Doha is in the planning stages with external providers to help build capacity in sports such as basketball and grassroots soccer, which will be announced in due course as and when COVID restrictions start to ease. Until then, Chris remains optimistic about the future of sport at ACS.
“We stand at the edge of a really big opportunity and our programme has punched above its weight despite the facilities up till now. We’ve won soccer and basketball championships. Our basketball programme last year swept the floor. We won championships across every age bracket – our seniors winning the Doha 6 was a bit special. Our swimming programme has also been great, but again we were using external facilities.
“The great thing is that we’re at that point where we can do all of this on our own doorstep and I think we can quietly look forward to being able to properly compete with schools who have longer histories in Doha than ourselves – we have now started to create our own history of success. We have enviable facilities which quite literally, drop your jaw.”
Community is all
With all this in mind, Chris’ role will be expanding this year, to encompass co-curricular activities such as drama and Model United Nations that sit outside learning and teaching.
The key priority and reality, before any of these plans can be realised is, of course, keeping everybody safe, and the school continues to work with its sister schools in the UK and Qatari authorities to ensure the highest standards in being COVID-secure.
“Community is the thing that we have built ourselves and our reputation on in Doha. We talk about it all the time and the main thing I’m conscious of as we move our programmes forward is that our community has a say and we meet its needs. We try very hard to keep our finger on the community pulse and be as responsive as we can – that’s something that is critical right now, more than ever. Community has to be something that we live and our success so far, has been built upon community values – others before self – much like a wolf pack, he concludes.