‘Promote scrabble at school level’

World body advises Pakistan to develop the game.

KARACHI: World Youth Scrabble Organisation Chairperson Karen Richards has advised Pakistan officials to promote the game at school level, which she feels is the best way to develop the game in the country.

Karen is in Karachi for the Koala Scrabble Challenge, which concluded on Sunday, and is also conducting a workshop to train upcoming players and coaches.

“Unlike in Australia where only old people play scrabble, I’m surprised how young players in Karachi are looking for some sort of coaching,” Karen told The Express Tribune. “It’s not the most lucrative game like chess or bridge but scrabble has its charm. It’s one of the easiest and the most convenient games people can play hence the tournaments are always fun.

“Scrabble is a game that is not meant to be taken seriously. But since I work in Malaysia and Thailand most of the time, I would say that Pakistan has the same kind of culture where kids are concentrating on improving their vocabulary to excel at the game.”

Karen added that Pakistan would still need two to three more years more to produce world class players and, while the biggest challenge for PSA is to hold more events, reaching out to children in schools will help immensely in the pursuit of developing the game further in the country.

Meanwhile, her son Alastair, ranked 19th in the world, believes online coaching is another great way of improving competitiveness among players.

The Australian has been training Javeria Arshad online for six months and believes there is great potential among the young players in Pakistan.

‘It’s quite safe here’

Meanwhile, shedding light on the security situation, Karen and Alastair said that despite a bad image of the country, Karachi was safe.

“People here are very hospitable — I never felt it was unsafe while I was in the city,” said Alastair. “In fact I would like to come again soon.”

Karen and Alastair will leave for Australia today at the conclusion of their four-day trip with the workshop.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2012.