PHF to scout backup

National hockey championship to provide ideal opportunity.

LAHORE: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) is planning on using the forthcoming national championship to unearth talent to set up a formidable pool of backup players for a strong future.

The 58th National Hockey Championship will kick off next month on a single-league format and will provide young players to stake their claims for a place in the national squad.

“We have retained our lost glory in hockey and are in good spirit after winning gold in the Asian Games,” Pakistan team manager Khwaja Junaid told The Express Tribune. “The PHF has spent a lot on the under-18s and 19s and the national championship would be the best option for the federation to identify the backup player for the future by putting them in a real test.

“The hype after the Asian Games has increased ahead of the championship and the players will be arriving with the hope of featuring in the Champions Trophy and the Olympics. Since we had implemented a proper syllabus at the junior level and each one of them must be waiting for a real test to prove themselves. We will be identifying more than 50 potential players a future prospects of training.”

Governing Body to meet on Tuesday

The PHF Governing Body will be meeting on December 28 to address the upcoming calendar year and chalking out the road map until the 2012 Olympics.  “The key agenda for the year-end meeting of the Governing Board will be the planning of the next calendar year along with addressing the strategy for the preparation of the Champions Trophy and the 2012 Olympics,” a PHF spokesman told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2010.