In August 2021, Pakistanis have been on the sting of their seats. 1000’s of miles away in Tokyo Japan, Arshad Nadeem from Mian Channu was going to throw an important javelin of his whole life. Two Pakistanis got here painfully near a spot on the winner’s podium on the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Arshad Nadeem completed fifth within the javelin throw and Talha Talib from Gujranwala completed fifth within the weightlifting class. 

Pakistan as a rustic has one sports activities obsession – cricket. Followers of the sport are diehard, expertise is available in a steady stream, and the game has been efficiently monetised. The issue is that it’s simply cricket that has reached that standing. Previously fashionable sports activities like hockey, and globally fashionable sports activities like soccer have all languished in Pakistan with the nation not performing nicely and in flip gamers being repeatedly disheartened due to an absence of alternatives. 

What the 2021 Olympics proved, nonetheless, was that if the stakes are excessive sufficient there’s greater than likelihood of individuals all throughout Pakistan having their eyes glued to tv screens and filling stadiums to look at Pakistani athletes throw javelins or raise weights. 

With the curiosity undoubtedly there in different sports activities, is there a technique to get individuals invested in a sport aside from cricket, and generate income alongside the best way? Maybe the one sport that’s the high contender to go the route of cricket in Pakistan is volleyball. The six-a-team net-sport has a singular place in Pakistan’s sporting scene. For starters, our nationwide group is among the most unpredictable volleyball nations of Asia. The group’s development has by no means been constant, primarily because of monetary causes. The group largely performs inside Asia, and there’s little or no regulated competitors inside Pakistan and in contrast to in massive volleyball taking part in nations Pakistan doesn’t have its personal league. 

Nevertheless, a step may have been taken in direction of making this a actuality. The Pakistan Volleyball Federation has lately entered right into a partnership with Engro to launch the Engro Volleyball Improvement Program.          

Underneath this system, the imaginative and prescient is to finally get Pakistan to have broad illustration within the Olympics and different main occasions. With international locations like India and China taking part in in opposition to Pakistan, lots of curiosity might be developed within the recreation. Presently, volleyball is a sport that has a very fashionable native circuit with gamers in small cities being celebrities in a really related style to how tape ball cricket leagues and gamers additionally thrive in small cities with massive tournaments being organised. That is notably true within the KP area, the place volleyball tournaments are an enormous supply of leisure. 

Primarily, the uncooked supplies for making volleyball a well-liked sport that additionally performs its gamers and patrons nicely are all there. What is required is concentrated effort in direction of growing expertise and selling the sport. Pakistan’s Iranian coach Rahman Mohammadirad identified in an interview that Pakistan wants a lot better services and gear for volleyball coaching functions. If the infrastructure is boosted it’ll additionally assist the nation to host worldwide volleyball occasions.

That’s the reason the PVF’s partnership with Engro may show fruitful. To mark the launch of this program, a signing ceremony and press convention have been held at an area lodge in Lahore. The event was attended by PVF Chairman Chaudhary Muhammad Yaqoob, and PVF President Ch Iftikhar Ahmed, Engro Company President & CEO Ghias Khan, Engro Fertilizers VP Manufacturing Syed Shahzad Nabi, and Engro Company Head of Advertising and marketing & Communications Umber Ansari, amongst different officers of Engro and the PVF.  

On the launch, the 2 sides introduced that as a part of the event program, Engro will help the PVF in establishing a Nationwide Coaching Camp, together with the appointment of certified overseas coaches. Regional coaching camps can even be established at completely different locations within the nation to facilitate the native expertise for its grooming. These coaching camps and competitions of the Pakistan nationwide group in opposition to sturdy overseas groups will allow PVF to develop a group of proficient athletes who might characterize Pakistan in worldwide competitions, such because the Olympics, World Championship, and World League.

“Our partnership with the Pakistan Volleyball Federation marks a brand new chapter within the growth and promotion of volleyball within the Nation. The Pakistan Volleyball Staff has proven its mettle repeatedly and overwhelmed high ranked groups similar to China, Korea, Thailand, India and even Japan,” stated Ghias Khan – President & CEO of Engro Company. 

This system may very well be a catalyst for the game if it manages to supply entry to the best-in-class coaches and coaching practices. That is additionally the goal of the PVF, whose Chairman, Chaudhary Muhammad Yaqoob, stated that the collaboration may very well be a gamechange.  

“Pakistan Volleyball Federation in collaboration and assist of Engro Company has deliberate to develop volleyball at grass-root stage to make it much more fashionable and unfold it in all nook and corners of the nation. Now we have a typical dream to take the Pakistan group to World Olympics 2028 in Los Angeles by shifting up steadily from Asia to international stage. On behalf of the Pakistan Volleyball Federation, I’m extraordinarily grateful to Engro and Mr. Ghias Khan for his beneficiant assist and assist to this recreation of the plenty.”