Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Muhammad Ali along with Director General Sports Punjab Muhammad Tariq Qureshi inaugurated high-profile Capacity Building Programme of Punjab Youth Affairs and Sports Department at the Institute of Sports Sciences Punjab (ISSP) on Tuesday.
The Capacity Building Programme is being conducted in collaboration with Health Services Academy, Islamabad in which leading health and sports master trainers will impart modern training to Divisional, District and Tehsil Sports Officers of Lahore Division, coaches, trainers, administrators and athletes regarding Sports Administration, Coaching and Physical Education.
Director Admin Abid Shaukat, Director Youth Affairs M Fahad, Deputy Directors Zahoor Ahmed, Shaista Qaiser, Yasmeen Akhtar, Project Director Dr Ijaz Asghar, Dr Asad Abbas Shah, Dr Moazzam Tanveer, Dr Iftikhar Ahmed, Dr Safdar Baloch, Dr Habibullah and a large number of coaches, trainers, administrators and athletes were also present on this occasion. Project Director Dr Ijaz Asghar also presented a detailed overview of Capacity Building Programme at the inaugural ceremony.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Muhammad Ali said that the Capacity Building Programme has been designed to enhance the performance of our coaches and athletes. “Under this programme, modern techniques will be taught to Punjab’s coaches and trainers regarding injury management, suitable nutrition and rehabilitation process”.
Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Muhammad Ali further said that it is very important to equip our coaches and trainers with latest training in accordance with the modern day requirements. “There is no doubt that proper training is just like oxygen for an athlete to increase his/her performance”.
Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Muhammad Ali said that foreign master trainers will be invited to impart modern training to Punjab’s sports officers. “The player development is the main objective of Capacity Building Programme. There are 717 sports facilities including sports complexes, stadium, sports courts and grounds operating across the Punjab province”.
Director General Sports Punjab Muhammad Tariq Qureshi, in his address, said that since Chief Minister Punjab has declared 2026 as ‘Year of Youth’ so we are organizing sports and youth affairs activities across the province with maximum participation of youth. “Efforts are underway to engage maximum number of students from schools and colleges in healthy sports activities”.
Director General Sports Punjab Muhammad Tariq Qureshi further said that Capacity Building Programme aimed to produce master trainers in multiple games. “These master trainers can play a vital role in producing world class coaches and male and female athletes”.
Director General Sports Punjab Muhammad Tariq Qureshi said that an effective sports calendar has been formulated according to which we are going to organize mega sports events at tehsil, district and divisional level. “As per our plan, we are organizing events of Olympic and traditional sports such as mud wrestling and kabaddi etc across the province”.
Director General Sports Punjab Muhammad Tariq Qureshi said Sports Board Punjab has 90 plus cricket grounds across the province and that’s why we are also going to organize several cricket events to engage our youth in healthy sports activities.