Markhors super league and the future of football
Markhors Super league is going to kick off on the 10th of August 2022, at the Parade ground Chitral, which has the potential to transform the nature of the game in the region. Perhaps, Chitralis are naturally sports enthusiasts despite the many challenges they face while living in a remote region. Markhors’ sports organization believes in transforming the challenges into opportunities through its community-based development model. The league is not just another mega event, but it is the beginning of the change.
Markhors’ sports organization is operating in various parts of the country since 2017. Its motto is the eradication of social evils like drug abuse, violence, mental health issues, and other such problems through organizing various types of literary and sporting events. It is determined to promote healthy competition among the youth to enhance their skills and capabilities whereby they could meet today’s global market demands. It tends to provide a platform for the youth to launch themselves in different fields.
This year the organization is determined to invest its time and resources in the commercialization of football in Chitral. The age of technology provides an opportunity for a remote region like Chitral to compete with other parts of the world at commercial levels. Hereby, Markhors inclines to introduce an integrated business model which can benefit members of the Chitrali Community. The idea is to integrate Sports, cottage industry, and hospitality sectors through which hundreds of job opportunities could be created for the local people.
In the long run, Markhors is determined to increase the influx of sports tourists in the region by organizing annual events. In doing so it will attract tourists from all corners of the world. Simultaneously, it will equip and train people from the local hospitality sector as per the new concepts of tourism. Markhors would launch an online portal to connect the tourists with the local hospitality sector. This way it can promote the local spots, restaurants, hotels, motels, and cuisines which, otherwise, are operating in the shadows. Ultimately, the productivity of the local sector would increase, and more jobs would be created.
Secondly, the big industrial model of development is less suitable for mountainous areas like Chitral because of the infrastructure and the climatic vulnerabilities. Huge carbon-emitting industries may create job opportunities, but they will also worsen the challenges for regions like Chitral which is prone to frequent land sliding and floods. “Go green” is the alternative that could be achieved by increasing the productivity of the local cottage sector. Markhor is determined to work with the cottage industry to launch a sports brand. Initially, it will train individuals and would provide the nessasary gears to produce sportswears and goods. Later Markhor would establish an online store (E-store) to introduce its products in the marketplace. It will generate hundreds of employment opportunities across different fields.
Lastly, Markhors’ Sports organization aims at introducing professional football in the region. The organization is going to sign players for its sports club based on short- and long-term contracts. It also aims to establish a professional football academy with the help of international donors and private investors. Markhors’ football academy would provide international standards training and equipment for the players. It will hire professional trainers, coaches, and field experts to maintain quality training in its academy. Later, it will facilitate the trained players to find career opportunities in various national and international clubs.
Indeed, big football leagues are not new phenomena in Chitral, but Markhors’ Super league is exceptional in its format which tends to trickle down the economic benefits of the game to everyone in the community.
