PHF held multiple activities to mark the Olympic week

Lahore : After the first three days of the OGDCL 5-A Side Floodlight hockey tournament at Lahore’s National Hockey Stadium, all the six teams had played matches on consecutive days.  Hence, Tuesday was a rest day. PHF had planned to utilize this day as part of the Olympic week celebration.

Quite a few events were held in the floodlit National Hockey Stadium in presence of a number of former hockey greats of Pakistan including Shahbaz Ahamd, the secretary PHF.                                                        

  It started with a match between two teams of under 14 girls. It was a good experience for the young girls to play in front of a good crowd and also get coverage from the electronic media.

 Then an exhibition match between the Veterans team (comprising of former Olympians, internationals and national stars) and the Punjab Sports Board team was held. The veterans’ side included greats like Tahir Zaman, Khawaja Junaid and Usman Sheikh, all World Cup winners. They provided glimpses of skills reminiscent of their halcyon days.

But the event that moved everyone was the participation of the special children. Gathered from different institutions of Lahore, they were present in a large number accompanied by their teachers. They came to the pitch and were very delighted to receive hockey sticks. Former and current Pakistan hockey stars engaged the kids to play with them, one on one.  These kids were also presented with the specially designed Olympic day t shirts.

The PHF plans to hold similar events on Thursday night with different matches between teams comprising of show biz personalities, media, ex Olympians and even families.