The 67th edition of the national hockey championships was recently held at Rawalpindi’s Lt General Ashfaq Nadeem Stadium. The surprise package was the newly raised young Customs side which finished third. Customs were appearing in the nationals after a long gap of 11 years.

Customs remained a big name in Pakistan hockey. It won the national championships eight times, a record second only to PIA. The last of these wins came in 1988.

The Customs hockey team was based in Karachi. The Enforcement Collectorate, Karachi, was responsible for the team`s appearances in the national tournaments, logistics, selection of the players, etc. Customs even built its hockey stadium with synthetic turf. Inexplicably, the interest of the officers concerned diminished. The dwindled patronage eventually led to the unthinkable, the disbandment of the Customs hockey team.

The credit for reviving the department`s hockey team goes mainly to Tauqeer Dar, Olympic gold medallist of 1984, who himself played for Customs during the 1980s. Tauqeer is the founder and president of Dar Hockey Academy — not only Pakistan`s best hockey nursery but also a role model for any sport.

“When I picked up the hockey stick for the first time, my uncle Tanvir Dar inspired me. The penalty corner expert was the top scorer of the 1971 World Cup won by Pakistan and had also made a major contribution to Pakistan`s gold medal-winning campaign at the 1968 Olympics. He enjoyed a cult status at the time. Tanvir Dar played for Customs in the domestic tournaments. Hence, my family supported Customs as ‘our team’. When I made strides in hockey in the early 1980s, many departments offered me a job to join their hockey teams. I chose Customs for obvious reasons.

Apart from being a proud member of the Pakistan teams who won gold at the 1984 Olympics and the 1985 Asia Cup, I also enjoyed success with the Customs side. I appeared for Customs in five nationals from 1984 to 1988 and won the title four times. Coincidentally, Tanvir Dar was a member of Customs’ other four victories at the national championships achieved in the late 1960s and early 1970s. All this made it very painful to see Customs disappear from the national scene.”

A man always on the move, Tauqeer convinced the Customs hierarchy to assign the hockey team to the Enforcement Collectorate, Lahore.

“Mukarram Jah Ansari, member Customs, played a vital role in getting the approval. We held open trials in June in which boys from all over the country participated, including national team players not with any departmental team. A strong team was selected. Still few gave our recently raised side much chance at the nationals. The team entered the tournament after a training camp of only 10 days supervised by superintendent customs Danish Kaleem, World Cup winner in 1994.”

In Rawalpindi, Customs steamrolled all three opponents in the pool to encounter an experienced Pak army team in the quarterfinal.

The youngsters came from behind to upset the soldiers 3-1. In the semifinal, they faced the defending champions WAPDA who included several members of the current national team. The boys played out of their skins and dominated the proceedings for the better part of the match. Customs were unfortunate to lose 1-3. They missed a penalty stroke and conceded two goals through unforced errors; sheer inexperience. The Navy were thumped 7-0 in the 3rd place game.

Six custom boys won selection in Pakistan`s junior team for the Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia which concluded on the 4th of November: Faizan Janjua, Abuzar, Abdul Qayyum, Mohammad Ammad, Hamza Fayyaz and Ghazanfar Ali.

Players are employed on a contract basis. After the team`s stellar performance at the nationals, Tauqeer hopes the boys will get permanent jobs. It will not be a one-off affair.

To institutionalise, a committee comprising Customs officers from across the country has already been formed to look after the affairs related to the department’s hockey. It comprises Mohsin Rafiq, Asif Abbas, Asad Rizvi, Mateen Alam, Abbas Ali Babar and Tauqeer Dar.

Tailpiece: All that
Pakistan hockey needs is capable and dedicated
administrators.

Ijaz62@hotmail.com