LAHORE - The three-day Technical Officials Refresher Course, which was conducted under the auspices of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), concluded at the Hockey Club of Pakistan (HCP) Stadium on Tuesday.
The purpose of the course was to groom officials and field jury through giving them awareness about latest rules in international hockey to supervise a match.
In his opening address, tournament director of National Hockey Championship ex-Olympian Qamar Ibrahim informed the participants that the PHF started this course to enhance the capabilities of its technical officials by imparting awareness of rules in modern hockey.
He said after the course, all the participants would go through a written test which would help the PHF categorize them in various grades. “The PHF is doing all this not only to enhance the capability of its technical officials but also to eliminate favouritism in their appointment to supervise various national tournaments,” he asserted.
FIH-certified umpire Haider Rasool gave lecture to the participants on the topic of relationship between field umpires and technical officials sitting on field jury. He urged upon them to shed their ego and affiliation during the course of a match and give their verdict on pure merit.
On the last day, Pakistan junior team chief coach Olympian Tahir Zaman joined in a general discussion on the topic of relationship between bench officials and field jury. Participants, divided into six groups, were given different topics to discuss. It was followed by a questions/answers session.
As many as 43 technical officials, including five women, from affiliated departments of the PHF and district hockey associations participated in the course. In all, seven sessions were held. In one session, the officials were taught placement of players, goalkeeper and tournament officials, including umpires, during the penalty shootout session. Assistant tournament director of National Hockey Ch Ansar Mehmood conducted the course in smooth way. Tournament officer M Shafiq Bhatti assisted him.