ISLAMABAD: In an effort to revive country’s national game at the grassroots level, the Inter-Boards Coordination Commission (IBCC), a subsidiary of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training, has constituted the National Education-Hockey Coordination Committee to institutionalise the promotion of hockey within Pakistan’s education system and restore competitive hockey activities among educational boards nationwide.
According to a notification issued by the IBCC, the committee will be headed by Dr. Ghulam Ali Mallah, Executive Director of the IBCC, while Sadia Naz, Deputy Director Sports at IBCC, will serve as the committee’s secretary.
The committee comprises directors of various education boards including Mardan, Larkana, Lahore, Islamabad, Quetta and Mirpur, along with representatives of sports organisations and Directors of Physical Education (DPEs).
It is pertinent to mention that Dr Mallah also serves as a member of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), a development expected to further strengthen coordination between the country’s education sector and hockey’s governing body.
The newly formed committee has been tasked with several key objectives aimed at rebuilding the game’s structure at the grassroots level. These include the organisation of standard Inter-Board Hockey Championships in under-14, under-16 and under-18 age categories across the country.
The plan also envisages conducting provincial qualifying rounds leading to a National Inter-Board Championship, thereby creating a structured pathway for young talent to progress to higher levels of the sport.
Among other initiatives, the committee will establish annual talent hunt and training camps, develop a centralised national database of student hockey players, and facilitate the transition of promising athletes from school, college and university levels to the national squad. To ensure effective implementation of the initiative, the committee will maintain close coordination with the Pakistan Sports Board for infrastructure support and the Federal Directorate of Education for institutional backing.
