LAHORE: While criticising the recent appointment of foreign coaches for the national hockey team, former Pakistan player Khalid Hamid on Thursday said the federation must focus on building a strong domestic infrastructure for the national sport.

“This is not the first time Pakistan has hired foreign coaches. The strategy has been adopted several times in the past, but it failed to produce the desired results,” said Khalid, a member of Pakistan’s Olympic gold medal-winning team at the 1984 Olympics, said while talking to Dawn.

“Still, we are once again witnessing a massive investment in foreign coaches, a path that has historically failed to deliver results.

“Pakistan hockey is in desperate need of a strong domestic structure,” the 63-year-old insisted.

Commenting on the growing dependence on modern technology, Khalid while acknowledging that using GPS systems could help assess players’ fitness, emphasised they could never replace technical coaching.

“While GPS technology is a useful tool for monitoring stamina and running capacity, it cannot measure a player’s technical skills or competitive temperament. Only local coaches, who are deeply familiar with the strengths, weaknesses and individual capabilities of our players, can provide the guidance needed to develop elite technical standards,” he reckoned.

Khalid criticised the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) for repeatedly making key decisions without consulting stakeholders.

“Unfortunately, we continue to repeat the same mistakes instead of learning from our past experiences. These strategic decisions are consistently made behind closed doors, leaving former players and other stakeholders surprised,” he said.

Khalid also questioned the wisdom of Pakistan’s participation in the FIH Pro League, arguing that the financially struggling federation had gained little from fielding an underprepared side against the world’s leading teams.

Khalid stressed that Pakistan could not regain its status in world hockey without expanding the domestic player base through a proper development system.

“We cannot achieve sustained success without a strong domestic structure and a larger pool of quality players. The resources spent on the Pro League should instead have been invested in establishing a state-of-the-art national training centre in one of the country’s major cities which could nurture players at U-18, U-21 and senior levels under one roof,” he underlined.

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2026