Week-long training course of Punjab’s divisional coaches concludes Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail distributes certificates among the participating divisional coaches at the closing ceremony

The week-long training course of Punjab’s divisional coaches concluded with a closing ceremony here at National Hockey Stadium on Thursday. Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail was the chief guest at the closing ceremony where he distributed certificates among the participating divisional coaches. Director Youth Affairs Rana Nadeem Anjum, Punjab Institute of Sports Sciences Principal Chand Parveen, Chief Instructor Hafeez Bhatti, and Instructors Shaista Qaiser, Sajid Ali and Deputy Director Atta ur Rehman were also present on this occasion. Addressing the ceremony, Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail said that it is the first badge of coaches who were trained under the supervision of
qualified experts and master trainers. “The training of the second badge of divisional coaches will start from January 1, 2024,” he added.
Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail directed the divisional coaches to pass on the valuable knowledge and expertise they learned during the week-long training course to their players and junior coaches as well. “Now it is your responsibility to train and produce the young athletes as per international standards so that they can earn laurels in international sports competitions,” he added. Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail further said that a monitoring group of coaches will be formed through which the performance and training activities of coaches will be checked. “The divisional coaches of the province should conduct competitive matches among the players to improve their match fitness and remove their weaknesses in playing techniques”. It is pertinent to mention here that the one-week training programme of divisional coaches was conducted under Punjab Institute of Sports Sciences as per directions of Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail.
On the last day, senior medical expert Dr Asad Abbas delivered a highly informative lecture on the topic of Anti-Doping. He also shared valuable tips regarding suitable and harmful nutrition for athletes belonging to different games. Dr Asad taught the divisional coaches about doping and destructive effects, dope test procedures, doping methods, intentional and unintentional doping, doping substances, and the permitted and non-permitted medicines under doping rules. He educated the coaches to avoid the use of performance-enhancing drugs which is unlawful and punishable under World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) laws. He said that this training course has been arranged to educate the provincial coaches about the proper usage of diet and medicines. Dr Asad Abbas advised the coaches to visit WADA website regularly to keep their knowledge and information updated. “It is the only way for our coaches and athletes to get them updated with the latest WADA rules and regulations being followed and practiced in the modern world,” he explained. After the lecture, a question/answer session was also held in which the participating coaches asked various questions to clear their concepts and confusions regarding the topic of Anti-Doping. Dr Asad Abbas on this occasion thanked Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail for organizing a one-week training programme of divisional coaches under Punjab Institute of Sports Sciences. After the completion of lectures, the participating divisional coaches appeared in written examination and viva under the supervision of qualified experts.