Hockey coach upbeat about Youth Olympics
“Pakistan is full of talented young players,” Junaid told The Express Tribune. “We have been working on developing our youth’s talent for quite a long time and this event will serve as an opportunity for our boys to prove their ability. We currently have 27 boys who will be going for the training camp and we will then further shortlist these participants to 16 boys who have the best potential.”
The country’s hockey federation has not had enough backup players, despite the sport being Pakistan’s national game.
“We don’t have the backup force or the reserve players and this is the reason why hockey has started to decline in the country. But now we’re working on the youth on the top level for the first time. Pakistan now have 18 academies throughout the country, working to produce the best, and all the players are working under qualified coaches.”
Ruling out the possibility that there may be concerns about selecting over-age players in the team, Junaid assured that all the players went through an effective system and their ages were scrutinised by the country’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). “Only the best potential players within the age group of 14 to 18 were picked for the camp and their ages were verified from NADRA.”
Pakistan beat Malaysia 4-2 last year in the under-18 Asia Cup Hockey championship to qualify for the Youth Olympic Games. This year’s event will be the first event of the multi-sport tournament that features summer and winter games to be held every four years consistent with the current Olympic Games format.
The Summer Games will be held in Singapore and the Winter Games will be held in Innsbruck, Austria.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 25th, 2010.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ