144 districts in Inter-Club hockey Championship

KARACHI: Pakistan Hockey Federation’s (PHF) Director Development and Domestic Naveed Alam unveiled the national Inter-Club Championship 2016, which is scheduled from October 24 to December 2, at the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore on Wednesday.

The competition which will be held for the first time since 2006 will feature 144 districts from across the country, Naveed said.

The championship will be divided into four phases – district, regional, provincial and national.

“The final national round will see four teams from Punjab, three each from Sindh and KPK, two from Balochistan and one each from Islamabad, AJK, Gilgit-Baltistan and FATA,” he said.

At the district level, hockey associations under secretary District Hockey Association (DHA) will supervise the event.

Naveed said that the estimated spending would be Rs1 million in each district. “The money will be utilised primarily by the district administration through the allocated sports budget. The PHF will facilitate mainly by providing the equipment,” he said.         

“The response from the district administration has been very encouraging. Dormant grounds have already been activated in many districts,” he added.

He said the event would help in exploring new talent and go a long way in restoring the confidence of players. “Efforts are afoot to televise all the provincial finals as well as the national final. The finals will be played on a league basis. The PHF will also try to find jobs for the best players unearthed in the competition.”

Naveed said he would address press conferences in all the provinces to highlight the importance of the competition.

To a question, he answered: “I agree that flaws and mistakes will surface in such a big exercise. But we will put our best efforts to deal with them in a just manner.” He also requested the media to play its part in making the event successful.