Hockey is Pakistan’s national sport, but its affairs have remained dismal over the years, particularly in the urban centres where youngsters have more interest in other activities such as playing cricket and football.
Back in 2017, it was hard to imagine that there was any optimism about the future of the sport in the only metropolitan city in the country — Karachi — but just four years later, things are looking extremely bright.
The majority of that is down to the Karachi Hockey Association (KHA) which emerged as the port city’s most active sporting hub.
The credit of such a remarkable turnaround belongs to the former international hockey player Haider Hussain who took the charge as the secretary of the KHA.
Ambitious as it may sound, the 41-year-old, while exclusively talking to Bol News, says his goal is to start a league under the KHA banner that crops up “to be as popular as the English Premier League and where clubs are as strong as Manchester United.”
“I look forward to the day our players in the league get so much money that every youngster wants to play hockey,” said Haider. “Previously, the land of KHA was being used for everything except sports. They constructed wedding halls and commissioned the land to private parking mafia while KHA accounts were empty.”
Talking about the facilities provided at the KHA now, Haider believes that it is the best hockey complex in the country.
“KHA is not only the best in Karachi, but it is the best in the country in terms of facilities,” he said. “Here, not only free training but also hockey equipment is being provided to the players without them paying anything.”
The financial aspect is always highlighted as the primary reason for hockey’s sad state of affairs in the country.
However, Haider stated that he has received a very good response and that there are no financial problems.
“Believe me, there is no shortage of money,” he said. “Whenever I have reached out to the sponsors for hockey revival, I have received quite an encouraging and overwhelming response where people have showed an interest to contribute.”
Talking about hockey’s state of affairs in the city, Haider believes that there should be Karachi’s representation in the national team.
“My biggest challenge is to bring out the talent of this city and take it to the national team,” he said. “I admit that there are no players in Karachi who are capable of playing at the national level as of now but I am working on this. Karachi should also be represented in the national team.”
Haider further revealed that there have been several meetings with the Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Lahore Qalandars to start a hockey league at the city level.
“The KHA has had several meetings with the PSL franchise Lahore Qalandars to initiate the hockey league at the city’s level,” he added. “Paperwork is almost done and now we are looking for a suitable window for the event.”
Haider also urged former hockey players to play their part in the revival of the sport at the grass-root level.
“It is the responsibility of the Olympians to come to the field and work instead of talking,” he said. “If former players turn to the ground and teach youngsters from their experience, hockey activities will be revived and new talent will emerge.”
