KARACHI, April 12: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has suggested the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to depute trained coaches at grassroots level to reap results of the coaches courses, said a FIH master coach Friday.

Tayyab Ikram, a FIH master coach deputed on the request of the PHF to conduct coaches courses here, said the only way to recover from the great slump in hockey, the PHF ought to post trained coaches at lower level.

“The people attending the coaches courses must be involved at district, divisional levels. That is the right and the only way to utilise them,” the Macau-based FIH coach said.

Tayyab, a Pakistani associated with the FIH for the last ten years, said he had also recommended the PHF to make it mandatory for the teams taking part at national level to have trained FIH coaches by the year 2005.

However, the exercise will go in vain if the trained coaches are not utilised down to school and club levels which are the basic unit of the any sport.

Almost all the participants of the coaches clinics, including hordes of Olympians, are employed with different departments.

Although the coach did not feel professional coaches were needed at district, divisional levels, he thought national side must have a full-time professional coach.