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The Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA), in a relatively short span of time, has succeeded in making its presence felt in a big way at the national and international level.

Founded in 1998 the PVCA has pursued its cherished goals with missionary zeal. It’s now an acclaimed institution having pioneered the idea of facilitating and creating healthy activities for the veterans besides taking care of the youngsters.

Pakistan’s senior and veteran cricketers, under the auspices of the PVCA, have undertaken tours of India, England, Sri Lanka and South Africa. We have played host to India as well for a four-match series which was a resounding success.

We have been proactive in reviving Schools Cricket once the major nursery for producing outstanding cricketers which had become dormant for decades. It was an area which needed attention and we have met the challenge by organizing Inter-Schools tournaments which have motivated the students and helped them in unfolding their cricketing skills.

The PVCA is being governed by a 16-member Board of Directors and it’s the only authorized and accredited Seniors/Veterans level cricket organization in the country, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) under Companies Ordinance 1984.

In 16 years the PVCA has organized innumerable local tournaments for the Seniors (Over-40), the Veterans (Over-50) and the Super Veterans (Over-60) besides holding national tournaments on a regular basis.

The National Seniors Cup has been successfully held every year and its 16 editions have already taken place. The National Veterans Cup has also become a regular annual feature for the past five years while the Super Veterans Cup, after becoming instantly successful in Karachi will now be taken to the national level.

At present there are nearly 2,000 players engaged in Seniors Cricket, more than 300 are actively playing in Veterans Cricket and around 100 are participating in the Super Veterans events. Before the establishment of the PVCA in 1998 very few cricketers in either of these categories were taking the field.

I take this opportunity of paying my respects to three of our founder members of the PVCA who are no more in this mortal world. Bashir Ahmed Basti, Dr Syed Mohammad Ali Shah and Shahid Israr were instrumental in lighting the candle and they had contributed immensely in turning the dream of PVCA into a reality. We miss them.

PVCA has also been extending financial support to the needy and deserving Cricketers, Umpires and Groundsman as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility.

Let me also recognize all my fellow Board members, past and present, for having spared their invaluable time and resources in the development of the PVCA.

I am very thankful to the two affiliated PVCA bodies of Punjab Veterans Cricket Association and Sindh Senior Welfare Cricket Association for extending their support to the activities of PVCA.

Formed in 1998 as a non-profit body for the welfare and benefit of veteran cricketers, the Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA) has now expanded its scope so as to engender critically needed social change through the “gentlemen’s game “called CRICKET. My primary focus as CEO has been to foster this re-transformation To be successful, a mindset alteration is the basic pre-requisite in order to promote a culture of indigenous sports patronage, hitherto non-existent in the country.

Unfortunately, no structured development programs at the grass root level have ever been undertaken, nor do there exist any viable plans to identify and create indigenous patrons for the provision of financial assistance to local teams or to children in educational institutions.

Above all, there is an acute shortage of infrastructure and there is hardly any capacity building or management acumen to maintain and run a local sports infrastructure. Evidently, this has resulted in serious deficiency in qualified human resource who could groom local players or youth in schools and colleges.

Although not easy by any standards, the success of PVCA todate has come about by following a clear vision and by developing and implementing a well thought-out strategy, which essentially revolved around providing a platform to promote cricket to passionate and dedicated people.

Many individuals have been identified who, through this platform, have successfully provided patronage to build a local sports infrastructure as well as managed it in an organized manner. The key to future success lies in “train the trainer” approach to groom the youth, and that is what our new strategic plan’s focus will be in order to achieve the desired outcome.

Initially, the PVCA members took up the challenge to establish a pilot project in Lahore. Success of this is authenticated by the fact that, Lahore City Association’s U-16, U-19, local Club and Veterans Tournaments of the last season were fully endorsed and supported by sponsorship programmes. This has lent credence to the stipulated vision, and will undoubtedly assist in extending the programs across all areas of Pakistan.

Partnership with ‘Akhuwat,’ (a very successful Micro Finance Program) is now envisaged. The aim is to jointly raise funds for creating job opportunities for the needyand to provide support to members’ widows and children.

The PVCA Board has representation from all the four provinces as well as Islamabad and the Federally Administered Areas. I must commend each member of the Board for his unflinchingly commitment and hard work for a noble cause like a family for over 16 long years and showing that sports is a great tool to unify the nation.

Many of the future programsmes, will be aimed at developing a sports culture for youth where teamwork, fair play, character-building and skills will be the hallmark.

Our success to date has given us ample proof that the vision is achievable, and the complex strategies that have been adopted will ensure the future sustainability, thereby providing selfless, capable and dedicated human resource to society for developing a world class ethos, very necessary for Pakistan to compete with the fast paced world of today.