Established in 2006 by Olympian Tauqeer Dar of the mid-1980s, Dar Hockey Academy in Lahore started grooming youngsters with just seven boys on the first day. Olympian Munir Dar, also a gold winner of 1960 Olympics, suggested his son Tauqeer to establish this academy.

Over time, the hockey academy expanded its efforts to recruit young talent from across the country and right now boarding and lodging facilities at the academy hostel are being offered to the boys from far-flung areas.

Dedicated and seasoned hockey coaches who used to train these talented guys included Late Akhlaq Ahmad (Olympic bronze medallist) and now Danish Kaleem (World Cup winner).

The Dar Academy also provides ample competitions for its players as they actively compete for their respective school teams, with notable success at the Model High School in Model Town Lahore.

The Dar Academy’s players are part of various local clubs, which regularly compete in local and national tournaments, winning multiple accolades. The players of the widely known academy are frequently selected in departmental, city, and provincial teams.

Since 2008, Dar Academy has also provided international exposure to its players by organizing tours to hockey-playing countries, like Holland, Belgium, Germany, India, and Malaysia. As a result, this academy has emerged as the largest source of talent for the national teams.

The Dar Academy is currently being supported by private sponsors as it never accepted any financial aid from the incumbent and former governments or any hockey federation. It has also succeeded in attracting patronage from multinational companies and individual donors.

The years 2024 and 2025 have been memorable with Dar Academy’s players featuring in almost all the national teams. The academy’s dominance was evident during the 68th National Hockey Championships in Karachi as seven of the fourteen participating sides fielded boys from Dar Academy and all these teams advanced to the quarter-finals. Among the 25 players competing in the nationals, champions Customs fielded eight players from this academy. The driving force behind this revival is Tauqeer Dar, dynamic president of the academy.

Tauqeer Dar also remained part of the Customs team during its glory days. He also persuaded the Customs leadership to reinstate the department’s hockey team in 2023.

After a 10-day camp under Head Coach Danish Kaleem, Customs team managed to secure third place in the 2023 nationals and also went on to win the 2024 National Championship for the first time in 36 years.

In the recently-held National Junior Championship in Islamabad, the competing 16 teams included 23 players from Dar Academy. The successful trio of Danish Kaleem, Irfan Butt, and Sultan Ashraf, who mentored the Customs squad at the nationals, also guided the junior team to victory.

The 2nd COAS National Inter-Club Hockey Championship was participated by 527 clubs from 57 districts across Pakistan. BK Club, entirely made up of players from this academy, claimed victory in the Lahore District Club Championship. In the Divisional Round, champions from the four districts of Lahore Division faced off, with BK Club again emerging victorious.

Moreover, the National Round featured 10 teams representing the four provinces and the capital territory. BK Club displayed great form, winning all their pool matches and defeating Civil Quarters from Peshawar in the semi-finals. The championship final against the Bahawalpur Tigers was highly competitive. While BK Lahore created numerous scoring opportunities, they couldn’t find the back of the net, resulting in a 0-0 draw at the end of regulation time.

Unfortunately, BK lost in the shootout. Finishing second among 527 teams in the national club championship is another achievement.

To encourage new talent, the COAS Inter-Club championship set rules limiting the clubs to a maximum of four departmental players and five players over the age of 21.

Dar Academy’s BK Club had a lineup filled with promising talent, including 14-year-old Taimoor Shiraz, the grandson of Olympic silver medalist Khurshid Azam from 1964. Taimoor made a significant impact by scoring crucial goals.

Earlier, international star Sufyan Khan made history by winning the FIH Rising Star of the Year Award in 2024, becoming the first Pakistani to earn an FIH award in any category.

During the 2024-25 season, the boys from Dar Academy enjoyed remarkable success, representing Pakistan in international events (both senior and junior), as well as excelling in national championships (senior and junior) and the National Club Championship, alongside individual accolades. Truly, it felt like their achievements were ‘Scripted in the Heavens’.

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