Baseball academy in Okara to be inaugurated on August 9

LAHORE: The Pakistan Baseball Federation will open its first youth baseball academy in Okara on August 9 after Eid-ul-Adha.

Syed Fakhar Ali Shah, President Pakistan Federation Baseball, while talking to media said that baseball is becoming one of the most popular sports in Pakistan. Baseball is being played at school, college and university levels in Pakistan. Pakistan’s youth teams of various age categories regularly participate in international competitions.

Fakhar said the federation had been working for the development of youth baseball in the country for the last ten years. This year, Pakistan’s U-12 and U-18 teams have to participate in the Asian Baseball Championships.

Fakhr said that the issue was discussed with the chairman of the federation Shaukat Javed in a video link.

Shaukat ordered to set up youth baseball academies in different cities of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan. According to Shaukat, since baseball activities have been stopped due to the corona virus and camps of baseball are not being set up for the training of players, it would be better to set up baseball academies in different cities.

“After the end of this epidemic when the new dates of the tournaments are announced, we will have our players ready and we will be able to select the best players to participate in the events,” he added.

The baseball academy in Okara will be set up under the supervision of Muhammad Hamood Lakhvi, Vice President of Pakistan Federation Baseball. After this, youth baseball academies will be set up in Faisalabad, Jhang, Gujranwala, Bahawalpur, Hyderabad and Quetta within the next three months.

A youth baseball academy is already functioning in Bahria Town in Lahore. The players trained there have participated in many international competitions.