The recently concluded 56th National Hockey Championship was an intelligent step in assessing players' fitness levels, capabilities and skills. With the new format, the players faced a very challenging task to prove their top physical fitness and form by playing around 10-12 matches during the 18-day championship.

Previously, the preliminary departmental and association tournaments were organised at two different centres and the top eight departmental teams. The top four association teams qualified for final round of the championship. The qualifiers for the final round were placed in different groups and after the league matches, four teams qualified for knockout semifinals followed by the final and the play-off for the third position.

Organising the championship under the new format at one centre required heavy funding which was ensured by the Pakistan Hockey Federation president Qasim Zia. Held under the patronage of the Punjab Hockey Association at Lahore's National Hockey Stadium, 19 teams out of the invited 23, competed where the teams were divided into five groups. The top two teams from each group made it to the final round that was also contested on the single league basis. This means that each team played nine matches. PIA retained the prestigious trophy by finishing at the top of the points table while NBP came second and Pakistan Wapda came third.

The remaining nine teams that failed to qualify for the final round did not return home but participated in the Plate competition introduced for the first time by the federation. This way each team played eight more matches and had the opportunity to watch seasoned international campaigners in action.

The promotion and relegation system also made the 56th championship far more competitive since the top two teams of the nine-team Plate competition will now be in the top ten teams. Whereas, the last two teams of the main round will be relegated to Plate competition in the next year's national championship.

Besides adopting the new format at the senior level, the PHF needs to introduce it in the Junior National championship as well, for which they need funding. One way to do this would be to let Pakistan Army, Air Force or the Navy organise the junior championship since they have the manpower to hold such a championship and might be able to fund it as well.

The provincial associations had staged both  junior and senior national championships, but organising the championship under the new format looks beyond their financial resources unless heavy funding is done by their governments.

Therefore, the associations should focus more on the promotion and development of the game in their respective jurisdiction in order to spot fresh talent. Moreover, inter-district tournaments should be held under the new format at provincial level, but it will need to be funded by the respective provincial governments.