KARACHI: Softball Asia wants the game to prosper in Pakistan and all other Asian countries so that Asian teams become a force to reckon with in the international arena, World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Secretary Dato Beng Choo Low stated on Sunday.

The WBSC Secretary arrived in Karachi to attend the closing ceremony of Softball Asia Pakistan Coaching Clinic which concluded here at Karachi Gymkhana on Sunday.

Senior WBSC Instructor Michael Alan Renney, who conducted the clinic, said that Pakistan’s coaches are highly talented and if they are properly groomed, they can help the country establish a side that would be counted among top teams of the world.

Softball Federation of Pakistan (SFP) Ambassador Faryal Gohar, Chairperson Tehmina Asif, Japan Consul General Toshikazu Isomura, Malaysian Consul General Khairul Nazran Abdul Rehman, Hockey Olympian Islahuddin, CEO Hankook Omar Saeed, SFP President Haider Khan Lehri, Secretary Asif Azeem, Director Coaching Clinic Mohammad Zeeshan Merchant and others were also present on the occasion.

The WBSC secretary said that this coaching course must play a role of a milestone for Pakistan coaches. Pakistan coaches have learnt rules, regulations and modern techniques during the course and they would now be able to coach their association and department teams more efficiently.

“It was really good to see the interest of women in the coaching course. I believe they have learnt a lot from the course and I hope it would play a big role in uplifting the standard of softball in the country,” Beng Choo Low said.

Choo Low said that this coaching clinic was the first step to take Pakistan in the international softball loop. More of such events would be organised in Pakistan. She said that age-group softball for U-12 and U-14 have also been introduced in order to involve youngsters at a young age.

WBSC senior instructor Michael Alan Renney along with Malaysian coaches Hanifa Muhammad Hamid and Noor Hajr conducted the three-day coaching clinic where they trained coaches about history of the game, rules and regulations, fitness training of players, ball hitting, base running, game strategy, bunting, sliding and how to hold group discussions during a game.

At the end of the closing ceremony, Beng Choo Low distributed certificates among the participants while Faryal Gohar and Tehmina Asif presented SFP Souvenir to WBSC Secretary.

SFP’s Asif Azeem also presented souvenirs to instructor Renney and coaches Hanifa Muhammad Hamid and Noor Hajr. WBSC Secretary presented a gold medal to Zeeshan Merchant in recognition of his efforts to hold the event successfully.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2019