Minister, Renowned Sportsmen Unveil USL Trophies

Punjab Higher Education Minister Raja Yassir Humayun Sarfraz said on Tuesday the University Sports League (USL) would act as the finest sports nursery for producing and grooming sportsmen for Olympics and national teams

LAHORE, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 28th Jan, 2020 ) :Punjab Higher education Minister Raja Yassir Humayun Sarfraz said on Tuesday the University Sports League (USL) would act as the finest sports nursery for producing and grooming sportsmen for Olympics and national teams.

The minister was addressing the ceremony of USL held at the Government College University (GCU) under the auspices of Higher Education Department, Punjab.

Minster Raja Sarfraz, Secretary Higher Education Punjab, Sajid Zafar Dall and GCU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi flaned by many legendary sportsmen including cricket star Saeed Ajmal, former Olympian Samiullah Khan, Pakistan Hockey Team head coach Khawaja Muhammad Junaid, former volleyball team capital Muhammad Naseer and Shabana Akhtar, Pakistan's first woman who competed in Olympics in 1996 unveiled the trophies for the winners of USL.

The Minister said that 381 teams of girls and boys from 59 universities were participating in ten games including Athletics, Cricket, Squash, Tennis, Volley Ball, Badminton, Football, Hockey and Basketball. He added that scholarships and cash awards worth Rs 19 million would be awarded to the best sportsmen of the USL-2020 along with foreign tours and trainings.

He announced that USL would become an annual feature of Punjab and promote sporting culture among the youth of their province and provide them with the healthy activities around the year.

"I am sure that once this idea takes off, it will also provide a new revenue stream to the academic institutions through sponsorship and alumni funding", the minister added.

Education Secretary Sajid Zafar Dall said that lack of integration among universities in Punjab and this sports league would also provide a platform to teachers and students of different universities to interact at a platform and learn from each other experiences.

He maintained the educational value of sports and its role in character building of youth could not be denied besides sports activities mitigate the rigorous academic stress and refrain youth from involving unhealthy and anti-social activities.

GCU VC Prof. Asghar Zaidi said that sports had been a prominent feature of humanity since ancient times immemorial; games played in Egypt and Greece had been followed with religious zeal, where the athletic meats were full of grant celebrations.

He added that sportsmanship was more important than winning an event. He called upon students to play for the glory of sports and for their alma maters and never use unfair means to achieve vain glory which is short lived and fruitless.