Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has no shortage of hockey talent, but a lack of infrastructure, sports quotas and institutional support is preventing young players from reaching their full potential.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Hockey Association president Syed Zahir Shah said the province continued to produce players capable of representing Pakistan despite inadequate facilities and limited government support.

The strength of the province’s talent, he said, was evident from recent trials in which around 160 players from across KP participated.

“The association creates players while the infrastructure is provided by the government,” said Shah, who is also the vice-president of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF).

 “We had very high expectations from the PTI government because Imran Khan himself was a sportsperson, but unfortunately those expectations proved wrong.”

Shah recalled a time when Pakistan had a strong pipeline of hockey players, with enough talent to maintain second and third-choice squads for the national team. He attributed the decline to the gradual disappearance of sports quotas in educational institutions and employment opportunities for athletes.

“In the past, there were six sports seats at Engineering College Peshawar alone and two at Khyber Medical College,” he said, adding that Government Degree College Peshawar and Islamia College Peshawar also reserved seats for sportspersons.

He said departments, banks and public-sector organisations once played a vital role by providing jobs and maintaining hockey teams. National Bank, PIA, Pakistan Customs, WAPDA, PTCL, UBL and HBL were among the major supporters.

“PIA alone had three hockey teams, while every bank had a policy to support sportspersons. Now players have simply been abandoned,” Shah said.

He called for departmental teams to be revived and sports quotas restored, suggesting at least five seats for talented athletes in every degree college.

Shah also stressed the need to revive school hockey, which he described as the foundation of Pakistan’s hockey system.