ISLAMABAD, Oct 08 (APP): Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) is all set to rope in an Australian trainer to improve national players’ conditioning, agility and speed, President of PHF Brig (r) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar said on Thursday.
“Currently, we are in talks with three to four trainers from Australia.
Hopefully, within the next few days we’ll reach on an agreement with one of them and bring him to Pakistan,” Khokhar told APP on Thursday.
He said Pakistan had world-class coaches but over the years the game of hockey had changed a lot. “I don’t have an iota of doubt about the capabilities of our coaches.
They’ve full knowledge of the game and fully abreast with the modern coaching techniques. But along with coaching, you can’t ignore the physical aspect of hockey training programme.
That is why we’ve decided to hire a trainer, who will impart training to optimize athletic abilities of our players,” he said.
According to Khokhar it had been observed that the fitness level of Pakistan players was not at par with that of players of world’s best outfits.
“Our players have the skills. The coaches are working with them to further improve their techniques. But they are lagging behind at the physical fitness front.
“Our ultimate goal is to take our team to the victory stand once again and regain our lost glory in the national game.
“Of course, that will not be possible unless our players achieve the greatest level of potential while remaining injury-free and healthy,” he reckoned.
He said initially the federation would hire the services of the trainer till January, 2021. However, the contract would be extended if there would be a marked improvement in the players’ fitness level.
“We’ll hold camps of our senior as well as junior players as soon as the trainer arrives. This will also enable us to prepare a reasonable number of backup players at both levels.”
He said the PHF was also considering to arrange coaching courses for erstwhile players in other countries. “They were really great athletes during their playing days. We wish the world should also know them as great coaches.”
The PHF president said that the federation was also in talks with other hockey-playing nations to send their teams to Pakistan for some bilateral and triangle series to give maximum exposure to national players.
“This will also help revitalize our young generation’s interest in hockey,” he added.
