In a significant achievement for university sports in Pakistan, more than 230 players have won medals in the Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) intervarsity sports competitions, Daily Times has learnt.
As per available information, the HEC’s ports wing has organized a number of intervarsity sports championship of various games across the country. “Over 233 medals were won by university players including 32 gold, 56 silver, and 145 bronze medals in different intervarsity championships during the year 2023-24,” said a senior official of the HEC while wishing anonymity.
These championships, according to him, were not only played domestically but some of them were also international that he added was first of its kind development.
He claimed that such achievements underscores the commitment and dedication HEC provides to the higher education institutions regarding provision of facilities to aspiring athletes along with completion of their education.
“The HEC not only provides sports infrastructure, coaches and mentors, it also regularly disburses prize money and scholarships on merit,” he added.
As per available information, the HEC in collaboration Pakistan University Sports Board (PUSB) and other academic fraternity and stakeholders organizes Intervarsity Championships round the year. The purpose of this initiative was to engage the university students in healthy and physical activities along with their academic pursuits.
Moreover, it added, the HEC’s female athletes enrolled various universities also made a strong impact by winning 17 gold medals, 25 silver medals and 21 bronze medals so for in national championships as well as two silver and three bronze medals in international championships. It added that the another chunk of the young players competed with professional players and won eight gold medals, 17 silver medals and 93 bronze medals in 34th national Games held a few weeks back. They acquired title of Best Turn out Trophy.
As per prescribed mechanism, the players who perform extraordinary as to win teams of these championships are selected for participation in national and international championships.
Additionally, the HEC’s sports section is establishing 12 sports academies in public sector universities across the country under Prime Minister’s youth Programme. Through this initiative, an established sports infrastructure can be used round the clock for players’ development and transformation into professional athletes.
Moreover, the government also rationalized the importance of the sports. According to the documents, the government allocated Rs 203 million in fiscal year 2023-24 Kamyab Jawan Talent Hunt youth Sports League. The programme is being executed by HEC sports department across the country. Under this scheme, youth between the ages of 15-25 years are selected for various sports to inculcate a sense of sportsmanship, harmony and team building. The documents further stated that Talent hunt scheme is subsidiary part of PM’s Youth Programme. It covers 12 exciting games including badminton, boxing, cricket, football, handball, hockey, judo, squash, table tennis, volleyball and weightlifting.
Under this programme, the desiring players in the respective games have been motive through advertisement campaign on different forums which resulted registration of thousand of aspiring players. According to the available statistics, as many as 58, 000 get themselves registered since the said programme has been announced. The registration comprised on 14,409 players in football, 23,296 in cricket, 10,816 in hockey, 2,160 in wrestling, 3,016 in weightlifting and 4,679 in some other games 58,376.