Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Hockey Federation has devised a comprehensive plan ‘Vision 2020’ to revive and rejuvenate hockey in the country. A very vital part of the plan is the activation of grassroots hockey at the club and school level. Clubs are a very important segment and constitute the basic unit of the edifice of Pakistan hockey. In the past, Pakistan’s hockey successes owed a lot to the clubs. The domestic club scene was very active and competitive. They played the role of nursery in producing quality players and there was no shortage of talent available to the national sides.

The PHF desires to recreate the same old club culture. Hence, the inter club championships are being organised at all the levels and the event will be a permanent fixture of the PHF’s annual calendar. It will start from the district level to be followed by the divisional level and then the provincial level. It will culminate at the national level where the top clubs emerging from the provincial competition will participate for the coveted title of the national club champions, who will also be send to some competition outside Pakistan. The whole event will be organised under the patronage of the PHF as per the rules and regulations of the game.

PHF director development and domestic Naveed Alam will be the chief coordinator and will monitor the event. The provincial hockey associations have been directed to organise the preliminary rounds of the inter club championships at the district and divisional level in their respective provinces. The prime objective of the entire exercise is to broaden the base of the game by having an increased pool of players for every position to infuse fresh blood in the national teams besides finding timely replacements for the outgoing players.