Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh has said that Sports Board Punjab is striving hard for the promotion of all games at grassroots level in the province. He said the purpose of the 2-month Summer Tennis Camp is to find and produce young talented players. We are also launching a tennis talent hunt programme to unearth fresh potential players; he expressed these views while talking to the media at the inaugural ceremony of 2-month Summer Tennis Camp at Bagh-e-Jinnah Lawn Tennis Academy on July 1, 2021.
Director Sports Hafeez Bhatti, Assistant Director Raees ur Rehman, Pakistan’s former Davis Cup skipper and secretary Punjab Lawn Tennis Association (PLTA) Rashid Malik and a large number of young male and female tennis players and enthusiasts were also present on this occasion.
Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh said that a huge amount of Rs 6 billion has been allocated for sports budget during the current fiscal year. “A network of sports infrastructure will be established across the province with this amount. We are planning to trace talented players from villages and suburban areas of the province”.
“Preparing a nursery of young talented players is the actual mandate of Sports Board Punjab and for this purpose a useful programme ‘Sports Calendar’ has been devised,” he added.
Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh said the players of 5 to 13 years of age are participating in the camp being organized under the supervision of veteran tennis coach Rashid Malik. He directed the camp management to ensure the participation of young tennis players. “There should be weekly assessment of participating players to ascertain their knowledge about the game”.
Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh also directed the camp administrator to make videos of practice matches of camp probable and make arrangements for advanced training for top performers of camp. “The players with 80 percent attendance and extraordinary performance should be given appreciation certificates. The coaches of the camp should also prepare their performance chart”.
Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh further said that Under-16, Under-18 and Under-21 players are being targeted under the Sports Calendar Programme. “We are organizing different tournaments in several cities in this regard. 2-month Summer Tennis Camp is also part of this campaign”.
He further informed that five more tennis courts are being constructed in a state of the art tennis stadium in Nishtar Park Sports Complex. “We have launched a 2-month swimming camp in Punjab International Swimming Complex for young swimmers of Under-6 to Under-18 age group”.