After spending the opening two days of the Sydney Swans Study Tour visiting several of Qatar’s historical and cultural experiences as well as training, educational and professional development opportunities at Aspetar and the Aspire Academy, the red and white contingent spent the final two days of the tour visiting some of Doha’s favourite tourist destinations.
Sydney Swans players Robbie Fox, Hayden McLean and Justin McInerney, CEO Tom Harley, AFL assistant coaches Dean Cox and Ben Mathews, Executive GM – AFL Football Leon Cameron and a handful of Swans football and administration staff spent the final two days at Doha’s Beach Club before visit an exhilarating Discover Desert tour at Sealine, including a private dinner underneath the stars in the sand dunes of Khor-Al-Adaid before capping off the final day with a visit to the Lusail International Circuit ahead of the upcoming Qatar Grand Prix 2024.
Reflecting on the experience, the Swans contingent have taken away plenty of positive experiences and new learnings and experiences from the tour.
“You think it's going to be nice but when you get here, every building's different, they've got a little different touch to it, a lot of influence from outside and it's just a beautiful place to look at and it’s been an amazing experience,” Fox said of the experience.
“This [the sand dunes] are what you picture coming to the Middle East. The drivers put their foot down and they just go for it, I think that's sort of their hobby over here.
“I was nervous but excited for it, and it was good fun. Driving in the middle of the desert and seeing the sunset and having dinner was great.
“Then the race track was pretty cool. They've got the race in a few weeks, so to just see the set up that goes on behind the scenes. Like anything over here, when there's a world event, just being able to see the effort they put into it was cool.”
“If you get a chance to come to Qatar, take the opportunity and come here and it will blow you away,” McLean said of the trip.
It's a multi-purpose place. We we’re here for four days and it's probably not long enough to experience everything Doha has to offer.”
Raper, who visited Doha over ten years ago, could see the development and change over the passed time and was looking forward to the continual developments to come.
“I was last here in 2014 so I came across for a conference at Aspetar at the time and it's just remarkable to see the development in the time,” Raper said.
“We're in the northern part of Doha at the moment and this was all reasonably quiet 10 years ago, not too many buildings here so there's a lot of development that's happened. They've managed to maintain a lot of the culture, a lot of the heritage of the place.
“Wandering around the Souq Waqif you could be in any city in the Middle East and then you step out and there's the bright lights of West Bay and downtown Doha so it's just got a really nice feel to it.”
“I think the Souq for me has been a highlight, I just love that real historical part of it. The fact that they've managed to maintain a lot of the tradition of the place. You wander around there and the smells, the different sights, it's just like something that we don't have anywhere in Australia.”
Harley and Cameron echoed Raper’s thoughts, calling out the benefits of experiencing a new and different culture.
“It's just a new experience. Aspire, Aspetar, the boat cruises, visiting the Souq market, these are things we don't do in everyday life. The last three or four days have just been first-class.” Cameron said.
“I think, like any experience which Leon's touching on, is that I always encourage people to go with their eyes wide open now,” Harley added.
“I guess the Middle East in general, from a Western society, is often, particularly when it comes to travel, is seen as a transit area. I think a lot of people would probably think that about Doha as almost the port to go elsewhere on a Qatar Airways flight, but I've been really surprised by the amount of activities as there’s plenty of young families around.
“I genuinely think I have been surprised at the advances that I've experienced from six years ago to coming now and would strongly recommend anyone at a minimum transiting through but actually spend a bit of time and keep your eyes and ears open and experience what this region has to offer.”
Stay tuned to our Sydney Swans social media channels for our final updates from the tour, before a unique video tour diary will be published in the coming weeks.
