KAGHAN: International qualified Technical Official and International Game Trainer Faisal Asad underlined the need at the grassroots level and urged upon coaches and referees in the 10th Annual National Tchoukball Coaching and Referee Course-2021 to be more focused at PMS Retreat & Lodges Ghanool, Kaghan Valley here on Wednesday.
Faisal Asad has the honour of training players in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Russia and South Africa, during a day long lectures to the 35 male and female participants of the course urged to learn more about Games rules and regulations besides some key steps to be adopted for ensuring the fitness of the kids and players during the course of Game.
About the court size that is generally used is 27 m × 17 m. However, there are variations to this such as in beach Tchoukball where a court size of 21 m × 12 m is used. He said, one rebound frame is placed at each end of the field of play and in front of each frame, a D shaped semi-circle measuring 3 m in radius must be drawn which defines the limits of the “forbidden zone”.
The lines of the zones are considered part of the zone itself like the line marking the semicircle forbidden zone is considered part of the forbidden zone, while the line around the entire court is considered a part of the court.
About the ball, he said, depending on the category of players Men, Women, Boys and Girls categories with different sizes of balls are being used ranging from a circumference of 54 cm to 60 cm and weighs between 325 grams to 475 grams.
He disclosed that two teams of 7 players each (men or women) compete to score points with the team with the most points at the end winning the game. When a team gains a point, control of the ball is transferred to the other team, he informed.
In Tchoukball either team can score at either end of the court, he said. A point is scored when the ball rebounds after hitting either of the 2 frames and touches the ground outside the forbidden zone, any part of the defending player’s body below the knees, or touches the defending player while he is still in the forbidden zone.
A point is given to the non-attacking team when the attacking team shoots and misses the frame, or the ball rebounds outside the playing area, either out of the court or in the forbidden zone. If a shot is caught by the defending team, the defending team can proceed to attack immediately.
He said the frame position for each team comprises the 2 right shooters, two left shooters and two or three defenders with one centre or none if three defenders are used. Faisal Asad further elaborated the style of the play at the Asian and International level said that each side of the court comprises a left shooter, right shooter and 1 or 2 defenders, while the centre usually stays near the middle of the court if this formation is used.
The shooters are generally in charge of shooting although in some cases the defender can also take the shot, he said, adding, the defenders are in charge of coordinating the first line of defense while the centre pivot takes charge of the second line of defense. However other formations include not using a centre pivot, the team would bypass the centre and throw full length court passes directly to the shooters and inners. This gives an extra first line defender or a dedicated second line defender.
The player can take 3 steps and is not allowed to bounce the ball on the ground between these steps. When a pass is dropped or not completed, the ball touches the ground, the other team gets possession. The defending team cannot hamper the attacking one, and is a fully non-contact sport. He said, the duration of the play is three sets of 15m with a break of 5 minutes between each set. The player with the ball is only allowed to hold the ball for 3 seconds or less according to the International Tchoukball Federation (FITB).
In the lecture, the International Technical Official, who also represented Pakistan in three South Asian Games, said that the FITB, founded in 1971, is based in Geneva. It now comprises 56 member countries of the world. The FITB was a demonstration sport in the 2009 World Games, which took place in Kaohsiung (Taiwan). He informed that Tchoukball has become an international sport, played in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Cameroon, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Niger, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay, the United States, and Vietnam.