Importance of sports for youth
Many health experts have emphasized the importance of physical activities for people of every age. Participating in sports and games helps people to stay healthy mentally and physically. Robert Kennedy argues, “In my judgment, physical fitness is basic to all forms of excellence and to a strong, confident nation”. Our young Pakistani athlete Armaghan Khan is a professional national football player who aims to bring glory to Pakistan.
Sports in Pakistan
Pakistan is one of the countries where almost 63% of the population is young, aged between 15 to 33 years. It is argued that “A youth bulge can either become a demographic dividend or a time bomb, depending on how young population is engaged in productive activities”.
Every country should specify a particular amount of budget for its sports industry. More spending on the sports industry is directly proportional to less spending on diseases caused due to obesity and physical inactivity.
Despite a large proportion of the population being young, Pakistan, unfortunately, lacks funding policies that can motivate the youth to become an athlete. Rather, very few youngsters choose sports as their profession.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Apart from government funding, private entities and corporate organizations also have a social responsibility. They should introduce policies and programs, aimed to have positive impacts on the economic, social, and environmental aspects of society. CSR is a business model that helps a company to become socially more accountable to the public by contributing positively to society.
Policies of the Gulf Alliance’s CSR Wing
Gulf Alliance has a mission to contribute to the development of the country by creating employment opportunities. Furthermore, Gulf Alliance also believes in supporting and promoting local talented individuals and athletes.
As per the CSR policies, Gulf Alliance’s CSR Wing has decided to showcase Armaghan Khan’s talent and support him on his journey to bring glory to Pakistan.
Early life
Born in an upper-middle-class family in an underdeveloped district Lakki Marwat, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Armaghan Khan always wanted to be in the limelight. He was dreaming big, aiming to become an athlete in the future. While, being the youngest child in his family, Armaghan has enough amount of love and support from his family.
Being a son to bright-minded parents, Armaghan is raised with the best of moral values and educational facilities. He was in 6th grade when he started participating in different games at school. Because of his exceptional performance in football, he was asked to lead the school’s football team as a caption.
He was only 15 years old when his elder brother died. The incident proved to be an emotional and financial setback for his family and career. Despite the emotional trauma, Armaghan continued to excel both in studies and games at school. He has completed A-Levels from a prestigious educational institute in Islamabad while securing multiple sports scholarships from his schools.
Beginning of Armaghan’s career as a professional footballer
Armaghan’s football career had always been tough, because of the perception that Pakistan cannot produce elite football players. He was always discouraged by people from choosing football as his career. Since football lacks government and social support in Pakistan. Yet, he wants to become an elite football player, having a Pakistani nationality.
To begin his professional football career, he joined the Huma football club in Islamabad, Pakistan. Huma football club is a Pakistan Premier League club (PPL). Huma FC is where he developed his professional football skills. Armaghan participated in many local and regional tournaments with Huma FC and won many certificates and awards.
Armaghan came to know about the practice camps of SAFF and the Asian Games in 2018. He worked hard day and night and attended National football training camps in Lahore for SAFF and Asian Games. At the age of 17, he was one of the youngest to attend these national camps.
