Sporting chance in Mirpur

The President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Raja Zulqarnain Khan, today launched the Sport for Life! Centre at Mirpur International Cricket Stadium.

Located in Mirpur Cricket Stadium’s media conference centre, the Sport for Life! Learning Centre will provide sport, education and healthy lifestyle training to disadvantaged children who are failing to reach their potential at school and in society.

Sport for Life! will provide children in Pakistan with the chance to learn life skills through sport

Sport for Life! in Pakistan follows a model which was established as a Legacy Programme of the Cricket World Cup 2007 in the West Indies and which has learning centres at Kensington Oval in Barbados, Queen’s Park in Trinidad, Beausejour Cricket Ground in St Lucia,and Arnos Vale in St Vincent & The Grenadines.

Sport for Life! is supported by a group of senior sporting Ambassadors including Wasim Akram and Imran Khan.

The Mirpur Centre will have an IT suite equipped with 20 computers and a whiteboard with projector. Children aged 10-14 will come for sessions which will be split between learning and cricket coaching. The learning component will include specially developed curriculum material in key subjects such as languages, maths, ICT and science, along with healthy lifestyle and leadership modules. Cricket coaching will also be provided in association with the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Sport for Life! Inc. is a Pakistan registered Trust. Initial funding for the project has come from a combination of UK Government, which is equipping the centre, and international cricketing authorities who are providing long term support.

The programme has the active support of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the International Cricket Council (ICC).

“I am delighted to be able to open the Sport for Life! centre," said President Zulqarnain.

"I believe that every child in Pakistan deserves the best possible education. By combining cricket and the chance to study using the latest IT equipment, Sport for Life! will give all the pupils who take part the chance to really develop their sporting and academic skills. This in turn will help them develop to their full potential and make a success of their lives.”

The ECB is providing support for the venture which has proved successful in West Indies

Wasim Akram added: “Cricket plays a key role in Pakistan society. Sport for Life! gives us the opportunity to expand that role and help many children in the country who could be making more of their lives. Mirpur is a tremendous facility and Sport for Life! will ensure that it fulfils its purpose as a centre for community activity as well host to world class cricket matches."

Lord Richard Newby, UK Director of Sport for Life! Inc, said: “Sport for Life! has the potential to fundamentally change the lives of many children both in Kashmir and across Pakistan generally. We are immensely grateful to our sponsors for getting us to this point and will now be looking for additional resources both internationally and domestically to enable the project to develop and expand.”