He belongs to one of the country’s leading business families — the Dawoods. He is a former teacher, who helped found LUMS, one of the most prestigious institutes in Pakistan. He was a pioneering businessman, who also served as a minister as the government tried to use his expertise to help boost the country’s faltering economy, twice. Currently, he is at the forefront of a campaign that is aimed at transforming talented Pakistani individuals into champions in their respective fields.

Abdul Razak Dawood together with his wife Bilquis and his children established the Bilquis Abdul Razak Dawood (BARD) Foundation almost a decade ago with focus on education and social welfare. Three years ago it decided to include sports on the list of its priorities, becoming perhaps the first foundation in the country that provides generous support to tennis players, mountaineers, squash players etc.

“Like education, sports is an equaliser,” Mr. Dawood told me as I met him, Bilquis and his daughter and son, Mehreen and Faisal, for an interview to talk about the foundation that is beginning to get noticed in the sporting circles of the country. He was responding to my question as to why opt for sports in a country faced with multiple challenges, mostly stemming from poverty.

“It allows you to go beyond your circumstances,” he adds.

Sports certainly does that. Take the cases of two of the beneficiaries of the foundation: Naila Kiyani and Shehroze Kashif.

Naila, a Dubai-based banker and a mother of two, became the first Pakistani woman to climb 10 of the 14 eight-thousanders (peaks above 8,000 metres). She is also the fastest Pakistani to climb all Pakistani 8,000-metre peaks and 10 peaks above 8,000-metre in two years.

Shehroze, 22, became the youngest climber in the world to summit K2 in the summer of 2021 after becoming the youngest Pakistani to summit Mount Everest. Having scaled 13 eight-thousanders, Shehroze is looking forward to summitting the last one next month.

Mr. Dawood is pleased that both Naila and Shehroze have become stars, with some help from his foundation. A finance man through and through, he doesn’t just measure their success on the basis of the fame they have achieved. He believes the economic impact of sporting success is equally important.

“Internationally, the sports industry is a major source of employment - players, coaches, trainers, umpires, dieticians, groundsmen etc. Sports helps the manufacturing industry associated with sporting attire and equipment.

“Success in any sport opens up its own opportunities. Take for example Shehroze. After summiting the 14 peaks, he plans to open up an adventure tourism company which in turn could provide more employment.

“It also facilitates women empowerment,” he points out. “Naila has put Pakistani women on the world map. She has been sourced by an American multinational to give motivational talks to their executives.”

Mr. Dawood is of the view that sporting icons have the power to inspire young kids to achieve their dreams.

“We are looking to develop role models for the younger generation. We took Naila and Shehroze to different schools for motivational sessions. The kids were in awe of their achievements. Seeing these young boys and girls being inspired by Pakistani talent like Naila and Shehroze, we feel we have achieved our objective,” he says.

Mountaineering has somehow been BARD’s biggest claim to fame, so far. If you take a look at their website, most of the news is there thanks to exploits of Naila and Shehroze.

The problem is that mountaineering is hardly a popular sport in Pakistan. Some might not even count it as a sport considering you can’t earn an Olympic or Asian Games medal even if you summit Mount Everest in bad weather or all the 14 thousanders in a span of a few weeks.

So why focus so much on mountaineering?

“Mountaineering is a very tough activity and requires commitment and dedication as such meets the objective of the foundation to encourage role models for courage and determination,” says Mr. Dawood.

“Like some other sports, mountaineering is not popular in Pakistan but there have been some hidden gems in this field and we, the foundation, are lucky to have found them (Naila and Shehroze),” he stresses.

Mr. Dawood recalls how he met a petite, young lady who was trying to convince him to support her mountaineering expeditions after learning about the foundation’s message which says If any Pakistani has spirit of adventure and self belief we will support them.

“When Naila came to us I told her that she needed to convince us that she can climb K2. She prepared a comprehensive presentation and we were convinced. And she did it.”

LONG-TERM PLAYERS

The mountaineering duo might have hogged the limelight but the fact is that the foundation’s biggest long-term investment was made in a nine-year-old tennis player, Haniya Minhas.

Three years ago, the foundation took her on board and she was sent to the elite IMG Academy in Florida. Because of her young age, the foundation took steps to relocate the entire Minhas family to the US, spending tens of thousands of dollars in the process. Haniya hasn’t disappointed as she has been winning age-group titles in the US during the last few years. But It’s still a long way before she can even think about joining the elite WTA circuit.

“The foundation has made a big investment in Haniya. What are your expectations from her?” was my question for Mr. Dawood and Mehreen.

“We made this investment because we were told by experienced coaches from America that Haniya is a potential champion and we felt that she could be a role model for millions of Pakistani and Muslim women around the world. Whether she reaches that height or not is yet to be seen, but all indicators so far from the executives of IMG are pointing in the right direction,” says Mr. Dawood.

Mehreen agrees that supporting Haniya has come at a great cost and that the foundation’s board is split on whether it was time to divert the funds towards other potential champions.

However, Mr Dawood is not fully convinced that it was time to leave Haniya on her own.

“Haniya has a long term potential and we at BARD are long-term players,” he says.

“Because of Haniya, we are pursuing tennis and we are fortunate to have identified another brilliant talent from Peshawar, Shayan, a 10 year old boy,” he adds.

YOU DO THE DOING, WE DO THE FUNDING

This is what the foundation tells its beneficiaries. The foundation’s early years were focused on the education sector but in recent times the foundation has pumped in substantial funds in sports and is keen on investing more in the future.

Over the last three years, they have managed to send the first Pakistani coaching aspirant to the Real Madrid Academy, supported tennis star Aisam-ul-Haq’s Ace Academy, helped send table tennis player Hoor Fawad to the Asian Games and have recently started supporting three squash-playing sisters, Mehwish, Sehrish and Mahnoor Ali, who will be sent abroad to play international tournaments soon.

“Sports remains our main focus. From supporting individuals, we plan to move to supporting team-based sports and eventually help set up academies in order to create a difference at the grass-root level,” says Mr. Dawood.

“When it comes to sports our philosophy is simple: BARD will not do the doing. You do the doing, we will do the funding,” he adds.

The foundation’s emphasis has been and will mostly stay on individual sports. It is already working with Aisam and is currently in talks with squash legend Jahangir Khan in its bid to help produce future champions.

So how does one qualify to become a beneficiary?

“Most of the time people directly approach our family, Mostly Razak sahab,” says Mehreen, who oversees the day-to-day working of the foundation. “But we have a thorough process. The candidates send their applications. We have a shortlisting process where they are screened and then sent to the board for a final decision,” she adds.

Mr. Dawood, meanwhile, sees himself as a reference library. “Anyone seeking any help can come to me,” he says.

But the 79-year-old remains the heart and soul of the organisation which he founded with the hope that it will help produce champions and inspire other philanthropists to invest in sports.

“In Pakistan we do a lot of charity but seldom think about investing in key areas like sports which have a potential to provide big boosts to the society,” he says.

According to Mr. Dawood, other business families are also beginning to realise the importance of sports. “There is one which wants to play its role and we are utilising our experience to help them.”

Khalid Hussain is Group Editor Sports The News International

khalidhraj@gmail.com