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Sports and Youth Affairs Department Punjab and Commissioner Office Lahore launched historic U-13 Hockey League with a grand opening ceremony at the National Hockey Stadium on Thursday.
MPA Hina Pervaiz Butt, Tahia Noon, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Asadullah Faiz, Commissioner Lahore Capt (retd) M Usman, Deputy Commissioner Lahore Umer Sher Chattha, Director General Sports Punjab Muhammad Tariq Qureshi, Director Sports Nadeem Qaiser, Director Youth Affairs Syed Omair Hasan and several other sports personalities were also present on this occasion.
A large number of current and past Olympians including former skippers Akhtar Rasool, Manzoor Junior, PHF Secretary Asif Bajwa, Tauqeer Dar, Dr Tariq Aziz, Kh Junaid, former skipper M Saqlain, captain of national hockey team Umer Bhutta and Ali Shan, hundreds of Under-13 hockey players, coaches and team officials also attended the opening ceremony.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Asadullah Faiz said that holding of Under-13 Hockey League is an effort through which Pakistan can reclaim its lost glory. “Now our focus is on competitive sports and we are also going to conduct talent hunt in three age brackets – U-10, U-13 and U-13 to U-16”.
Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Asadullah Faiz said that Under-13 Hockey League is being organized for the first time in the history of the country. “Sports and Youth Affairs Department Punjab and Commissioner Office Lahore took a historic step for preparing a large pool of talented young hockey players”.
Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Asadullah Faiz said that the prime objective of Under-13 Hockey League was to locate emerging players from all parts of the province. “It is just the first step. We are also planning to make this tournament a part of our Annual Sports Calendar. I’m quite confident that after a couple of years, we will be able to build a large bunch of potential hockey players who can serve the national hockey team at any stage”.
Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Asadullah Faiz further announced to hold this event every year. “It is a long journey launched with an aim to regain Pakistan’s lost glory in the hockey field. Now this league will be a key part of our Annual Sports Calendar. This will be an incentive-based league and we will give stipends to all talented and top performing players. After district level, this league will be organized at divisional level in the next phase”.
Commissioner Lahore Capt (retd) M Usman in his speech said that it is definitely a historic day in the history of the country. He thanked all guests, participants and officials for their participation in the inaugural ceremony. “The merit-based organization of the Under-13 Hockey League is the only way to find genuine talented players from grassroots level and then provide properly groomed bench strength to national team”.
Commissioner Lahore Capt (retd) M Usman said the presence of Chief Minister Punjab Hamza Shahbaz in the grand opening ceremony of U-13 Hockey League was definitely a great gesture. “It could prove to be a great boost for the young hockey players and they will feel proud to have CM in their event”.
Commissioner Lahore Capt (retd) M Usman said as many as 9 teams of Lahore Division including three teams from Lahore district (Lahore Green, Lahore White, Lahore Blue) and two teams each from three districts – Kasur (Green and White), Nankana Sahib (Green and White) and Sheikhupura (Green and White) are participating in U-13 Hockey League.
Commissioner Lahore Capt (retd) M Usman informed that the trials of the Under-13 Hockey League have been completed at tehsil and district level on the pattern of European structure. “Over 1100 U-13 players took part in the trials from across the Lahore Division”. He also thanked Sports Board Punjab and Sports and Youth Affairs Department Punjab for extending all possible facilities during trials and patronizing this game-changing junior hockey tournament. He urged the former and current renowned hockey players to help locate future stars from among participants of U-13 Hockey League.
National Hockey Stadium was decorated with beautiful flags and banners. The anthem of U-13 Hockey League was also launched on this occasion. Moreover, national anthem and attractive sufi and band performances were also presented during the mega opening ceremony.
Dozens of gymnasts and aerobic players won huge appreciation from the large audience through their eye-catching performances. Later, an eye-catching show of fireworks was also presented to amuse the large gathering.