The Dar Hockey Academy is continuing with its good work to promote the game at grassroots level as it has started to coach another batch of teenagers.

It has picked up 25 children, including three girls, aged between 10 and 12. Not only the coaching is free, hockey sticks and balls are also being provided by the academy without any charges.

Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) president retired Brig. Khalid Sajjad Khokhar along with secretary Olympian Shahbaz Senior, head coach Tahir Zaman and Pakistan ex-captain Rehan Butt were prominent in the inaugural ceremony of the new batch.

A batch of 40 boys has already been trained. And now a new batch will be prepared to play quality hockey. Running such an academy for years from own resources is a big achievement of Dar family, which has produced three Olympians -- Munir Dar, Tanveer Dar, and Tauqir Dar.

Interestingly, Pakistan had claimed three gold medals at the Olympics Games and each time one player from Dar family was part of every campaign. In 1960, Munir Dar was the member of gold medal winning side, while in 1968 his brother Tanveer Dar won laurels. And last time, Pakistan won the gold medal at Los Angles Olympics in 1986, where Tauqir was the member.

Tauqir Dar told Dawn that it was his passion to serve the game, which had given a lot of respect to his family the world over. He said other Olympians should also set up such academies instead of criticising others. He said the best way to return back to hockey was only to promote it at grassroots level.

The PHF president was also surprised over the presence of a good number hockey kids and said, “Dar Academy is unique in its working and repute.”

Dar Academy has been touring European countries every year and it has also produced five players to the Pakistan team during the last seven years. More academies are the need of the hour to revive the game, which has given almost 70 gold, silver and bronze medals at the Olympics, Asian and Commonwealth Games to the country.

Last week, Lahore became the first venue of organising the National Women Rugby Championships at the Punjab Stadium. The Pakistan Rugby Union, which has been working for the last many years to promote the game at men level has decided to also introduce the game to women.

Though the PRU could not earn any major achievement in men’s section at the international level, exploring the scale of activities to women is good to provide healthy opportunity to them.

Teams from Lahore College University, Samundari Stars, Baghbanpura Club, Lodhran Spartans, Lodhran Chakhimta, Sargodha Eagles and Rawalpindi Rams are participating in the championship, which will conclude next week.

Last week, the Punjab girls showed their full domination in the Inter-provincial Under-16 Wushu Championships, winning it with 105 points. The boys’ title, however, went to Balochistan. The event was held here at the newly built indoor gymnasium at the Nishtar Sports Complex. It was the first regular event organised in this new facility, which will definitely help organise many other sporting events like basketball, volleyball, wrestling (on pad), badminton and archery.

The Punjab girls secured six gold medals in the Wushu championships, besides one silver and a bronze medal, too. Balochistan remained second, lagging behind with 75 points. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa boys and girls also took part in the championships. These events are a platform to select talent available in the country and to further hone their skills. But for the last many years, the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has ignored the game. In the past, the board has the tradition to fix monthly stipend for the gold medalists of these events. There is a need to encourage boys and girls at this age level by giving them handsome monthly stipend to continue their game without any financial problems.

The Pakistan Golf Federation has decided to organise the Quaid-i-Azam Golf Championship in memory of the Father of the Nation at Lahore Gymkhana.

Around 200 golfers, including men, women and seniors, are participating in the event.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2015