The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has invited talented athletes from across the country to join the Youth Sports League under the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme (PMYP).
The sports league will include the sports of volleyball, badminton, table tennis, and squash in 25 districts. Interested sportspersons can apply online through the PMYP website.
The HEC has set up trial camps in several major cities in each province.
The aforementioned league will provide the selected candidates with the opportunity to participate in national-level leagues in their individual categories.
Javed Ali Memon, In-charge of the Sports and Co-Curricular Division of the HEC, explained, “The opportunities include the provision of coaching and development facility under the patronage of Pakistan Sports Board and award of scholarships for pursuing higher education”.
He elaborated that the selected players will be provided with skilled assistance in the form of sports academies (High Performance and Resource Center) to help hone their talents, and improve their physical fitness to that of a professional athlete.
It was a long-term goal, according to the planned strategy of the Talent Hunt program, to create HEC’s team and a pool of talented young players and develop them into professional players who would compete and represent the country at the highest level.
An HEC official shared that higher education institutions around the country have joined the project enthusiastically. He expressed his regret at the negligence of the past governments in relation to extracurricular activities for students.
He quoted a recent UNDP survey report which noted that out of the 7,000 youth surveyed when asked about access to recreational facilities and events, 78.6 percent said they had no access to parks, 94.5 percent had no access to a library while 97.2 percent had not been to a live music event.
Similarly, 93.9 percent of the respondents had not been to a sports event, 93 percent did not have access to any sports facilities, 97 percent had not been to a cinema, and 71.7 percent reported that they did not have access to or attend any of the above activities or events.
He opined that the talent hunt programme will hopefully be a major initiative that can restore these overlooked activities.
