Haider Hussain

 

 

Hanif Khan

 

Three people have special place in making Haider what he is today. Former Pakistan captain Hanif Khan has been an idol, a mentor and a fatherly figure for Haider. Hanif, who is a 1994 Los Angeles Olympics gold medallist, groomed Haider and polished his raw talent.

 

Haider was still in school when he started visiting Customs Sports Complex – a hockey nursery which has produced several internationals and Olympians under the tutelage of Hanif. The venue was a fascinating place for Haider as it was a dream for him watching Hanif and other Olympians practice at the complex.

 

Haider would crave to meet Hanif, but didn’t dare to even go near him for four years, fearing the maestro might get upset. Haider, along with some other trainees, watched the stalwarts practice from the sidelines for almost four years. All he would do was to dribble along the sidelines.

 

Eventually, one day lady luck smiled on Haider when was ordered by Hanif to play as a goalkeeper as one of the teams didn’t have one. Haider neither had protective gear nor was he a goalkeeper. But going inside the field was a moment to cherish for him. A few weeks later, he played as a left-out. And then, Haider never sat outside the sidelines.

 

 

Abdul Waheed

 

Haider is deeply indebted to Abdul Waheed, the Habib Public School hockey team coach, for he was his first mentor and the one who introduced him to hockey, although Haider had a passion for athletics and basketball.

 

One day Haider skipped a hockey practice session and instead went to a school athletics competition. Waiting for his event – 400m – Haider saw Waheed trying to locate him and started playing hide-and-seek. Waheed finally got hold of his trainee and gave a dressing down for skipping hockey practice.

 

Waheed, who came for Haider along with his father Nasim Hussain, convinced Haider had a special talent in hockey. Although Haider used to represent his school basketball team and Sindh under-16 team, he was finally convinced by Waheed and from that day he never played any sport but hockey.

 

 

Nasim Hussain

 

Convinced by Abdul Waheed that Haider should play hockey, his father would always encourage him to play the national sport. Nasim, who himself was a sportsman and a member of Pakistan shooting ball team, introduced Haider to Customs Sports Complex through Hanif’s brother who was a office colleague of Nasim.

 

 

Imran

 

While Hanif Khan, Abdul Waheed and Nasim Hussain encouraged and groomed Haider to become an international, Haider is also grateful to his physical trainer Imran who trained him and kept him physically fit during his career.