Sports Quetta

Introduction

Sports have always been a part and parcel of a healthy society. Sports activities have been in action from ancient time, various games have taken different shapes with new rules, with the passage of time. However, the important functions of the games are to keep the human being active and energetic. Sports create a sense of discipline among the players, they are a source of enjoyment for both players and viewers. In today’s world sports have become the sign of prestige for the winning nation. Sports are indeed an indicator of social development.

Quetta, being the major city of Balochistan, has always remained the centre of sports activities in both the district and the province.

Traditionally football was the most popular game of the town. The city has produced some renowned International footballers like (Taj senior, Ismail Durrani, Mateen Agha, Zaman Shah, Jumma Khan). It is worth mentioning that in the 1948 Olympics, the above mentioned five players from Quetta represented Pakistan. Most of the football players from Quetta had the honour to play for Mohammadan Club of Calcutta, which was one of the leading football clubs in undivided India. Afterwards the Pakistan Football team had many players from Quetta.

Weight lifting and body building were also important games and Quetta produced some of the best weight lifter in the history of Pakistan (Dilawar Khan, Bahudur Khan, Aziz Satakzai). In the field of body building, Quetta was not behind other provinces. (Mr. Ishaq Changazi, Mr. Pakistan Mr. Sharbat Changazi).

In the field of hockey, Quetta has produced players like Riaz-ud-Din and Shafique.

In Squash, Quetta has produced Aftab Jawaid (3 years British Amateur Champion), Qamar Zaman (British Champion) and Hidayat Jahan, Zubair Jahan. They are all world class players.

In fact, in Quetta all modern games, like football, hockey, squash, tennis, cricket, volley ball, badminton are played. Athletics is also very popular. Besides, other games like body building, weight lifting, table tennis, judo, karate are also played, other games like snooker, billiard, carom board & chess are widely played in the city. It is important to note that girls also take part in games like badminton, hockey, table tennis, squash, and athletics. Women can play a number of the above mentioned games in their schools and colleges.

Wrestling is one of the traditional games, played in the rural areas of district Quetta. The nature of wrestling is quite different from the wrestling of other provinces. In local language this wrestling is known as "Ghazahae". This game is played by two persons under a referee. The rules of the game are well known. The main rule is that if any part of wrestler except his feet touches the ground, the wrestler looses the game. This game is always played during social and religious festivals.

GO/NGO/Private Enterprise, etc. involvement in Sports Development

As far as involvement in sports development is concerned the federal govt; the provincial govt; and the private sector are actively involved. International Donors and NGOs are also involved in the development of sports. Every year a number of tournaments for different games such as ( football, body building and wrestling) are organized under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of the district. It is very unfortunate that in Quetta, there are only 3 complexes for sports and one stadium with 6 playgrounds for males and females.

Conclusion and major Development Issues

1. Sports activities provide a forum for social development.
2. The involvement of females in sports is gaining momentum.
3. The sports facilities in relation to the growing population are poor.
4. There is a positive relationship between educational facilities and sports development.
5. There is no government policy for the development of sports.

Issues

The major issues include:

1. Lack of play ground and organizational capacity
2. Lack of equipment and coaching centres.
3. Paucity of funds.
4. Duplication of Associations (Parallel bodies).

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