AT the time of writing these lines, the National Hockey Championship is still under way. So there is hardly any point in talking about it at this stage. But there has a lot else been happening as far as national hockey is concerned.
For instance, the national women team’s first-ever participation in the Asia Cup, which is no mean achievement. Besides, there has been much talk of a possible series between Pakistan and India. The venue was first said to be Malaysia, but there have been reports of a possible shift to the Australian city of Perth. Whether the series would actually go ahead or would just fizzle out like earlier such attempts is a matter of anybody’s guess.
Also is the news has been a proposed package for the promotion of the game in the country that is said to have been prepared by the Pakistan Hockey Federation and approved in principle by Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who, as is common knowledge, has been a keen follower of the game in the country.
If newsreports are anything to go by, the plan is all about reviving the barren domestic infrastructure and promoting the game at the grassroots level. Further, it also involves the restoration of employment opportunities and travelling facilities for local teams at discounted fares.
Readers would recall that all these issues have been close to my heart for a long time and it has been my endeavour for the last several weeks to highlight the importance of each of these steps. In fact, I have even outlined the modalities through which I think any decision in this regard can be implemented.
If such a comprehensive package does get announced and, more importantly, executed in earnest, I will be among the happiest and the most satisfied souls on earth. I honestly believe that without bringing in employment and financial incentives into the equation, it will be impossible to turn the tide in our favour.
The logic is quite simple. First of all, without financial incentives and career opportunities, the glamour goes out of the window. So the kids spend time playing cricket, and not hockey. Besides, even when someone wants to play hockey and nothing else, parents and other family members do their best to divert his attention to something else. And, may I say, rightly so.
Not everyone who starts out ultimately gets to wear the national colour. For all such souls, there have to be opportunities to make a living out of the game. Just as there are for cricketers in the country. In the absence of such opportunities, not many start out on this uncertain path, or change tracks somewhere down the road. This naturally results in the gradual shrinking of the talent pool, which is something that is the biggest malaise affecting Pakistan hockey for the last several years.
