KARACHI, March 31: The month-long countrywide netball development and coaching programme for Under-17 girls, organised by the Pakistan Netball Federation (PNF) in collaboration with the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) concluded earlier than expected on Monday when PNF had to cancel their trip to Peshawar for security reasons.

“The decision to drop Peshawar from the programme was taken by PNF President Capt Malik Zafar Iqbal Awan when ASC officials aired their concerns regarding security in Peshawar after the Federal Investigation Building [FIA] bomb blast in Lahore on March 11,” PNF Gereral Secretary Mudassir Arain told Dawn on Monday. “Coaching girl students in a known segregated society at a time like this would be putting their lives in jeopardy so we have completely dropped the idea of going there,” he added.

Aimed at developing a better understanding of the rules and regulations of sport among school and college girls in the rural areas, the workshop, which commenced on March 4, travelled to nine cities throughout the month with assistance from the respective provincial and district netball associations of Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Mirpurkhas, Nawabshah, Khairpur, Quetta, Faisalabad, Sumandari and Gujranwala.

Besides offering coaching classes to some 35,000 students and their sports teachers, the training programme also included lectures and practical demonstrations by sports analysts, international coaches and officials who also distributed sports equipment, including netball poles and balls to various schools and sports bodies of the areas visited.