Youth festival: Those performing well will be sent abroad for training, says Mashhood

Students from Punjab Group of Colleges win first prize for a march past

LAHORE: The provincial government has provided a platform to the youth in the form of the Youth Festival to exhibit their talent to the world, Sports Minister Rana Mashhood said on Monday.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the 6th Punjab Youth Festival.

Mashhood said a large number of students from various schools and colleges had registered for games and competitions planned during the festival. He said the provincial government was committed to improving the state of sports infrastructure. He said his ministry was working in collaboration with the sports boards in this regard. He said coaches would be hired to train talented players at school- and college- levels. He said those performing well in these sessions would be sent abroad for advanced training.

He said the festival had been started in 2008 to promote the talent of the youth. It had been held every year since then, he said.

Mashhood said the achievements of a number of participants of the festival held last year had been recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records. He said he hoped that the records set last year would be broken in the upcoming competitions.

The ceremony also featured a march past and aerobics performance. Students from the Punjab Group of Colleges stood first in the march past. A Kinnaird College team secured the second position.  Sports Secretary Humayun Mazhar Sheikh and Punjab Olympic Association president Iftikhar Malik were also present at the ceremony.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2015.