The total prize amount for the National Hockey Championship has been increased to Rs280 million by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), which is a tenfold increase from the previous Championships.
The decision is aimed at providing greater financial incentives to players and encouraging the development of hockey across the country.
Players at the national championship were usually given free accommodation and lodging, and often little monetary awards.
This new system will give players a chance to cash in millions of rupees for being a part of the game.
The PHF has also made public the national and provincial qualifying tournament schedules for the senior, junior and Under-15 categories.
The national competitions will get underway in January next year.
The federation says it is part of a wider plan to bring hockey back to grassroots and to recruit new talent to bolster the talent pool for the national teams of Pakistan.
Held on behalf of the provincial sports secretaries, regional hockey associations and administrative territories including Gilgit-Baltistan, Islamabad and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, the PHF has asked the respective associations to complete their respective qualifying tournaments by December 31.
The teams that make it through the qualifying will then go on to the national championships which start in January.
Four teams will compete for each province in the Under-15 School Championship and two teams will come from each of the administered territories.
A team from each province shall represent them in the Under-18 Championship, and one team from each administrative territory in the Under-18 Championship.
2 teams from each of the provinces will compete in the Women’s National Championship along with 1 team from each of the administrative territories.
Meanwhile, the National Men’s Championship will feature some of the provincial and departmental teams.
The federations stated that the competitions will give young players from educational and provincial-level competitions more chances to play at the national level.
The enlarged championship format is expected to help identify potential talents and improve the talent pool for Pakistan’s national teams, ultimately aiming to rejuvenate Pakistan’s hockey prowess.
The PHF hopes that the bigger tournament format will enable them to find more talent and create a solid talent pool of the national teams and eventually strengthen the country’s hockey power.