The Punjab Sports Department (PSD) has announced that it will continue to organize the Punjab Youth Festival (PYF) in March this year as well.

The department will also hold International Sports Festival after the youth festival, Provincial Sports Minister Rana Mashhood made these announcements this last week. The minister is also the in-charge of the Horse and Cattle Show to be held in March.

There is no denying of the fact that healthy activities should be held on a regular basis, but since the public funds are being spent on all these events it must be productive, helping our athletes to excel at the world-recognized sporting events.

The major recognized platforms for a sportsperson are the Olympic, Asian and Commonwealth games, which are held under the umbrella of the IOC Charter.

But unfortunately, our athletes, who have to excel at these recognized platforms, are not getting due support from the government. Hopefully, the provincial government will also encourage those sportspersons who are expected to bring laurels for the country.

Hockey, the national game, is currently in a dying stage and it needs a lot of oxygen to survive. The offices of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), situated close to Rana Mashhood’s offices, are giving a haunting look as the federation is so short in funds that it can hardly offer tea to visitors.

Despite earning back to back silver medals at the Asian Games and Champions Trophy by the national team, the PHF is still awaiting a call from the prime minister to honour the winning team.

Though Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has sanctioned some grant to the PHF, it is not enough to run its affairs, which has to commence a training camp for the Olympics qualifiers in April this year.

It is hoped the minister will not engage officials of the Guinness World Records to register records as the department in the past had faced humiliation because of several discrepancies.

The Guinness World Records also charges heavily from the department to register records which stay only for some days. These funds should be utilized on some productive activities.

The World Cup-2015 cricket show has overshadowed a big event which the Pakistan Federation Baseball conducted at Islamabad this last week.

When foreign teams are reluctant to visit Pakistan for security reasons the federation succeeded in bringing countries like Iraq, Iran, India and Afghanistan to hold a five-nation 12th West Asia Cup in Islamabad.

Pakistan defended the title gracefully as it did not concede a single run while scoring 43 to win with an unbeaten streak.

In the last match, Pakistan defeated India which came here for the first time. The PFB deserves praise from all quarters for hosting not only a good number of foreign teams but also defending the title.

The Lahore Polo Club season for 2014-15 is in full swing as a good number of foreign players are featuring in high-goal tournaments along with Pakistani players.

So far all foreign players are successful in keeping a commanding position against Pakistani players. Almost in every match, foreign players, with their individual efforts, have been sharing a winning role for their respective teams. Among them are Matias Vial, Pedro Zacharias, Juan Cruz Losada, Tomas Llorente and Jullio Novillo Astrada. They all are international players and are enjoying the game at the picturesque LPC.

LPC President Haye Mehtha is elated at a good response from foreign players.

He said though the LPC faced some difficulties, the club was providing all facilities to its players throughout the season.

Around 80 senior and junior (male and female) players from all over the country were in Lahore to attend a training session organized by the Pakistan Judo Federation this last week.

Shah Hussain, who had earned gold and silver medals at international competitions, was also here to attend the camp, which was organized by Iranian coach Sajjaz Kazemi.

Pakistani judokas have great talent, but the paucity of funds and lack of training facilities are creating big hurdles in honing their skills to compete at the international level.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play