ISLAMABAD: Six-year-old Soha Noon darts across the lush green field, her hair swaying with each determined stride. Amid the lively cheers at Islamabad’s Spanish Football Academy, her enthusiasm mirrors a growing trend: an increasing number of Pakistani children, including young girls, embracing football with passion and dedication.
This surge in interest is the result of efforts by individuals like José Alonso, a FIFA-certified coach and founder of the training camp in Islamabad. Alonso, who first visited Pakistan in 2005, recalls that physical education was not taken seriously in local schools, leading to a sedentary lifestyle with long-term consequences for people’s physical and mental well-being.
Football camps, he noted, provide an essential outlet for physical activity and social engagement, ensuring that children develop critical life skills.
“This is the tablet generation,” he said in a conversation with Arab News. “They were born into technology. Children hardly spend any time playing outdoors, which impacts their physical development and emotional well-being. Increased screen time and changes in diet can have lasting effects.”
“We want to teach children essential life skills through play, helping them develop psychomotor skills, teamwork, camaraderie, resilience and decision-making abilities,” he added.
Alonso’s academy offers professional training facilities and expert coaching for children aged five and above, incorporating fitness, diet awareness and character-building sessions into their programs.
“Football, basketball and handball require strategic thinking and transitions between defense and offense,” he said. “These games help children develop both physically and mentally. Parents can also encourage outdoor activities like trekking and walking to complement these efforts.”
Alonso believes structured training programs like his academy’s are pivotal in channeling this enthusiasm into real opportunities for young players.
“We work with the vision of nurturing young talent and instilling strong morals and values,” he added.
Faizan Sameer, founder of Football Factory in the capital, said training facilities such as the one he manages offer children the chance to pursue their dreams and hone their skills.
“When I was growing up, we didn’t have many opportunities, especially when it [came] to the underage [sports] programs,” he said. “Whether [the children] go pro or not, that doesn’t matter. But the platform should be there for [them] to achieve their dreams and pursue what they really love to do.”
He concurred with Alonso that screen time was a “big problem,” taking its toll on children’s attention spans.
“If you talk to [them], you would hardly find a kid who could listen to you for one minute or two minutes,” he said. “I believe there’s a strong sentiment that this is happening because of the screen time that is being given to the kids.”
Football may not yet rival cricket in Pakistan’s sports scene, but its popularity surges whenever the FIFA World Cup comes around. The country’s sports buffs passionately follow international teams, each rooting for their favorites.
Beyond fandom, Pakistan has also seen its own success stories in the game. The country’s street football team has performed remarkably well internationally, with a notable performance at the 2024 Norway Cup, where they reached the quarter-finals, defeating Norway’s Kasterndam Club 3-1.
The football camps in Islamabad say they are trying to inspire children and nurture their talent in the sport by providing them with structured training.
“I love playing football the most because it’s my favorite game,” young Soha said before starting her practice at the Spanish Football Academy. “I’ve been playing with a ball since I was a baby.”
Her father, Taimur Noon, shares her enthusiasm, saying he strongly believes his daughters should have the opportunity to participate in sports.
“I don’t have anything against screens,” he said. “I feel like it’s important for [children’s] development and education as well. But I feel like this is a big component that a lot of parents should focus on to help their children be connected to nature and outdoors for their well-being.”
An entrepreneur, Noon emphasized that playing football at the academy allows children to interact with peers from diverse backgrounds.
“It helps them interact with different kids from different backgrounds, with different sorts of qualities that they can obviously learn from and sort of adapt with and grow into a more diverse personality,” he continued. “When Soha converses with them, when she talks with them … she learns a lot, different cultures, different languages.”
Game changer: Football camps revive outdoor activities for children in Islamabad
https://arab.news/rwh2v
Game changer: Football camps revive outdoor activities for children in Islamabad
- Parents say the camps provide outlets for physical activity, social engagement to the ‘tablet generation’
- Football coaches stress the importance of making it possible for children to participate in sports
Pakistan accuses India of manipulating Indus waters, warns of risks to regional peace
- India announced in April it was putting the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance over a gun attack in disputed Kashmir it blamed on Pakistan
- Islamabad says it has witnessed ‘unusual, abrupt variations’ in the flow of Chenab river, accusing New Delhi of ‘material breaches’ of treaty
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday accused India of manipulating flows of Indus waters in violation of a 1960 water-sharing treaty, warning that unilateral actions over the transboundary waters could heighten tensions and pose risks to regional peace.
The Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), mediated by the World Bank, divides control of the Indus basin rivers between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. India said in April it was holding the treaty “in abeyance” after a gun attack in Indian-administered Kashmir killed more than 26 tourists. New Delhi blamed the assault on Pakistan, Islamabad denied it.
The treaty grants Pakistan rights to the Indus basin’s western rivers — Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab — for irrigation, drinking, and non-consumptive uses like hydropower, while India controls the eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej — for unrestricted use but must not significantly alter their flow. India can use the western rivers for limited purposes such as power generation and irrigation, without storing or diverting large volumes, according to the agreement.
Speaking at a televised press briefing, Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar accused New Delhi of “material breaches” of the IWT that may have consequences for regional stability, citing “unusual, abrupt variations” in the flow of Chenab river from April 30 to May 21 and from Dec. 7 to Dec. 15.
“These variations in water flows are of extreme concern for Pakistan as they point to unilateral release of water by India into River Chenab. India has released this water without any prior notification or any data- or information-sharing with Pakistan as required under the treaty,” he said.
“India’s most recent action clearly exemplifies the weaponization of water to which Pakistan has been consistently drawing attention of the international community.”
There was no immediate response from New Delhi to the statement.
Dar said this water “manipulation” occurs at a critical time in Pakistan’s agricultural cycle and directly threatens the lives and livelihoods as well as food and economic security of its citizens.
He shared that Indian actions prompted Indus Water Commissioner Mehar Ali Shah to write a letter to his Indian counterpart, seeking clarification on the matter as provided under the Indus Waters Treaty.
“We expect India to respond to the queries raised by Pakistan’s Indus water commissioner, refrain from any unilateral manipulation of river flows, and fulfill all its obligations in letter and spirit under the Indus Waters Treaty provisions,” the Pakistani deputy premier said.
Dar also accused India of consistently trying to undermine the IWT by building various dams, including Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower projects, which he said sets “a very dangerous precedent.”
“Alarmingly, India is now subverting the treaty’s own dispute resolution mechanism by refusing to participate in the Court of Arbitration and neutral expert proceedings. India is pursuing a deliberate strategy to sabotage the well-established arbitration process under the treaty provisions,” he said.
The South Asian neighbors have been arguing over hydroelectric projects on the shared Indus river system for decades, with Pakistan complaining that India’s planned hydropower dams will cut its flows.
In August, the International Court of Arbitration rendered an award on issues of general interpretation of the IWT, explaining the designed criteria for the new run-of-river hydropower projects to be constructed by India on the western rivers of Chenab, Jhelum and Indus, which Islamabad said vindicated its stance.
In its findings, the Court of Arbitration declared that India shall “let flow” the waters of the western rivers for Pakistan’s unrestricted use. In that connection, the specified exceptions for generation of hydro-electric plants must conform strictly to the requirements laid down in the Treaty, rather than to what India might consider an “ideal” or “best practices approach,” according to the Pakistani foreign office.
“Pakistan would like to reiterate that Indus Waters Treaty is a binding legal instrument that has made an invaluable contribution to peace and stability of South Asia,” Dar said.
“Its violation, on the one hand, threatens the inviolability of international treaties and on the other, it poses serious risks to regional peace and security, principles of good neighborhood, and norms that govern inter-state relations.”
