Training is an important element for improvement in all walks of life. Businesses conduct Training Needs Analysis (TNA for short) to identify skill gaps and undergo training programs tailored to fill in these gaps. In the same way, the sports industry also requires a strategy to identify the shortcomings that might exist and to take appropriate corrective actions to mitigate these short comings. Pakistan with its rich sporting talent is no exception. The country has been relying too long and too heavily on Cricket to bring it laurels. There is an imperative need to diversify and invest in other sports such as soccer and athletics, particularly in the absence of a consistent performance in Cricket (such as the recent unexpected loss of the T-20 series 2-1 to a lower ranked team (Bangladesh).
Whereas Pakistan has had a long and outstanding dominance for decades in the fields of Hockey, Squash and Cricket, we have very little or no exposure to other sports such as Soccer and Athletics at international level.
As such, to delve into unchartered territories, it will be a pre-requisite for us to invest into professional training programmes including hiring of international coaches in order to unlock the hidden talents of our youth, a resource we have plenty of (around 70% of the country’s population consist of youth under the age of 30).
At international level, we have plenty of examples where employing foreign coaches has borne positive outcomes. One such example which underscores the need of hiring competent coaches is Saudi Arabia who qualified for their first FIFA World Cup held in USA in 1994 under the training and able leadership of the Argentinian coach Jorge Raul Solari.
He successfully led them to the Round of 16. Later, Saudi Arabia again employed a foreign coach, a Brazilian by the name of Carlos Alberto Parreira, who led them to qualify for playing in the 1998 FIFA World Cup held in France. Since 1994, Saudi Arabia has qualified for the FIFA World Cup for six times, which speaks volumes of the importance of hiring professional coaches. Without the leadership and competence of these international coaches this achievement of the Suadi team would not have been possible.
Another glaring example in soccer is that of Morocco where their national coach Walid Regrague did wonders by uplifting Morocco’s standards to a level that they beat other big teams to reach the semi-finals of 2022 FIFA World Cup. This was indeed an historic achievement by no small measure. The event showcased not only the team’s potential but, more importantly, underscored the competence of their national coach (from Morocco) who through his experience and tactical prowess was able to achieve this remarkable feat making Morocco the first African and Arab state to reach the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup. Sports such as soccer also invite huge viewership and international exposure, which can only do good for the overall image of a country like Pakistan. For instance, the 2022 FIFA World Cup had a massive global viewership of over 3.5 billion people.
Hiring of coaches has indeed impacted Pakistan sports with many notable outcomes. Recent examples where coaches have played a crucial role in putting Pakistan on the international map include: Amanda Mynhardt, a South African coach who led the Pakistan girls’ netball team to victory In the Asian Youth Girls Netball Championship 2025, defeating Maldives in the finals. The team remained unbeaten throughout the tournament. The victory was a major milestone for the promotion of women sport in Pakistan, and one which would not have been possible without the superb guidance and training provided by the talented SA coach.
The most notable recent performance amongst men Volleyball team has been winning the silver medal in the 2019 South Asian games and then going on to win the Gold medal in the 2022 Central Asian Men’s Volleyball Championship by beating the powerful Iranian team. They again won a silver medal in the 2024 AVC Challenger Cup. Pakistan Volleyball team also gave a remarkable performance in the 2025 Asian Volleyball Nation’s Cup when they defeated Qatar to reach the Finals which was a great feat by itself. Here also, two coaches enabled Pakistan to elevate themselves to international competitive levels. One is an Argentinian by the name of Ruben Volochan who was appointed as Pakistan’s Head Coach in April 2024, ahead of the Central Asian Championship and the other is Rahman Mohammad who is currently the coach for Pakistan Volleyball team (2025). Both coaches have contributed immensely to Pakistan’s Men’s Volleyball team, without which Pakistan would not have been able to make much headway against top ranking teams. Even at the time of writing this article, Pakistan youth have made a strong beginning in the ongoing FIVB (Federation International de Volleyball) Boys’ U19 Volleyball World Championship 2025 being held in Uzbekistan where they won opening four matches of their group (against Belgium, Uzbekistan, Turkey and Puerto Rico) without dropping a single set. They lost their final group match to Argentina but still qualified to reach the top 16, where they unfortunately lost to Poland in a nail-biting tiebreaker, thus failing to reach the quarter-finals. Nevertheless, it was a magnificent performance by our youngsters considering that it was their first entry into this format of the game. The major credit goes to the head coach Saeed Ahmed Khan Sady who is an accomplished coach and whose hard work and training has made Pakistan youth a force to reckon with.
Pakistan Hockey has been making a comeback of sorts after decades long draught. Their revival includes reaching the finals of the prestigious 2024 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, followed up by an exemplary performance in the 2025 Asia Cup Under-18 tournament in China where they remained unbeaten until the finals, which they lost to Japan.
The recent turnaround has been made possible largely through efforts of two outstanding coaches namely Head Coach Roelant Oltmans from Netherlands who played a pivotal role in re-structuring the Pakistani squad and Coach Danish Kaleem, who worked hard and played a crucial role in training the youth to give a strong performance in the U-18 Asia Cup tournament.
The case in point here is that Pakistani youth inherently possess the talent, prowess and resilience, traits which once were a hallmark of Pakistan’s supremacy and invincibility in Hockey, Squash and Cricket (HSC), and most recently Javelin Throwing. We already have the infrastructure for HSC. We can do it again in these and many other sports. However, it will need a sincere and concerted effort by all stakeholders to prioritize sports and to provide the infrastructure at community and school level, significantly enhance allocation of funds to sports and most importantly, appoint competent coaches, both national and international, their role being instrumental in bringing back the glory in sports we once enjoyed.
There have been notable efforts along the above lines. One such initiative is the recent appointment of the renowned Peruvian icon Nolberto Solano as the Head Coach of both the senior and U-23 Pakistan’s national football teams, with the eventual aim being for Pakistan to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. That would really put Pakistan way up on the pedestal of international sports. Another such initiative is the recent cooperation between two sports bodies i.e. the PCB and the PTF for promoting tennis. In this regard a meeting was held on 9 July 2025, between Chairman PCB and PTF President Aisam-ul-Haq, to discuss promotion of tennis across the country. Chairman PCB assured the PTF President of his full cooperation for promoting tennis including expanding the current infrastructure and construction of new tennis courts. According to the PTF President, “the country is brimming with talent not only in Cricket but also in tennis.” Being an excellent player and manager himself, Aisam could play a key role in selecting new talent in tennis and groom them into players of international repute.
In addition to football and lawn tennis, we need to diversify into other sports also. A starting point could be to include sports in which Pakistan athletes have had past successes at international level. Apart from the HSC sports, these may include: snooker, boxing, wrestling, shooting, Indoor rowing, netball, javelin throw, volleyball etc. The talent is there. However, this youth potential needs to be exploited by providing them the infrastructure and competent trainers which is a pre-requisite for further progression.
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