ISLAMABAD: An academy for both male and female players will be opened in January at the Shahnaz Sheikh Hockey Stadium in Rawalpindi in collaboration with the Punjab Sports Board. Former Olympian Shahnaz Sheikh said Saturday that he had met with SBP officials in order to finalize talks about the academy. “Punjab government, PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi and the SBP have been a great help in establishing the hockey stadium and hopefully we want to open the academy under their umbrella,” he said. He also thanked the Punjab government, the SBP and Hanif Abbasi for their utmost efforts to encourage and promote the game of hockey in Rawalpindi. The astro-turf has been laid at the Hockey Stadium and hopefully a tournament between ex Olympians will be hosted soon. Published in Daily Times, December 24th 2017.