Sports is a heavily under-enabled and under-promoted segment in Pakistan. Despite an abundance of talent, few opportunities being accessible to individuals results in lowering their number. One such sportsperson is young Pakistani swimmer Mishael Ayesha Ayub who has been making waves in international competitions.
She has already distinguished herself by claiming the place of best under-16 swimmer in Pakistan, breaking multiple national records and was the youngest member on the team for the South Asian Games in 2016, as well as achieving a bronze medal for relay in the 2017 Islamic Games that took place in Baku.
Mishael has been training since the age of 11, taking inspiration from her grandfather Mazhar Ali Khan who himself represented Pakistan as a swimmer many years ago. She is being coached by Ghulam Murtaza whom she met in 2013. Ghulam Murtaza himself is a former swimming national champion.
According to Mishael, some of the issues facing young swimmers are the lack of sponsorships, promotions, and good training facilities in Pakistan. Another reason, Mishael sees in the lack of support is that young people are generally discouraged from pursuing sports professionally by both parents and teachers. She believes herself lucky for having a family that is supportive as most sportspeople will discontinue their training around the time they turn 18 which is when they should be attaining their prime.
Mishael added that she felt while Lahore had a number of top female swimmers, Karachi had a larger environment for swimming. Lahore, she said, needs more local competitions, more coaching and classes for younger people.
The lack of strong local facilities says Mishael, gives an unfair advantage to Pakistani-origin sportspeople who represent Pakistan but live and train overseas and only return to Pakistan to participate in trials. When such sportspeople are selected for international competitions, it can be very discouraging for the talented young sportspeople living and training in Pakistan.