AUCKLAND,: Renowned Australian hockey coach Ric Charlesworth has said that the future of hockey in Pakistan heavily depends on paying attention to grass-roots level of the game.

“Pakistan were a fantastic hockey nation for decades and ruled at international level by virtue of their talent and skills,” he said in an interview on Friday.

“But now they are struggling to make their mark at the highest level of the game and they should pay attention to their grass-roots level in order to broaden the base of the game.”

A former Australian captain, Charlesworth said Pakistan hockey needs adequate hockey activities at the grass-roots level which is only possible by evolving a system which could ensure that hockey gets due attention among the youth.

He said another reason which contributed to downfall of hockey in Pakistan was the absence of international hockey activities due to security concerns in recent years and there is a dire need that international hockey returns to Pakistan to put a new life in the sport.

“Regular activity programme at different level, visit of the foreign teams and hockey publicity on tv can be the steps for motivating the youth there to take up hockey as a sport,” said the former Olympian.

Charlesworth said Pakistan has an open style of playing always having a similar approach of attack and defence and it is quite easy to read out their match plan after watching their game for a while in a match.

“They are good in technique and skills but lack in match planning and execution. They need to think better and act better,” he said.

When his attention was drawn to the fact that Pakistan Hockey Federation had launched a programme for uplift of the game with over a dozen hockey academies starting off, he said, “These are the good measures which will be having their long-term impact to secure the future of the game.

“These academies should continue and these institutions should be run on modern-day hockey coaching.”

Charlesworth said all the top teams of the hockey world, including Australia, learnt hockey from Pakistan who he were once known as the super power of the game.

“Seeing Pakistan taking part in Champions Trophy is good and their presence will boost their performance in future. They should keep trying to improve their hockey standards by adopting different measures and requirements to run the game on professional lines,” he said.—APP