Emirates, one of the fastest growing international airlines, provided a memorable experience for children at the SOS Children’s Village in Lahore by staging a coaching clinic with star cricketers. The children were thrilled as Taufiq Umar, Usman Salahuddin and Hafiz Zohaib – players for Faysal Bank Pentagular Cup winnersPunjab – shared advice, signed autographs and posed for pictures. Children from the Youth Home in the SOS Children’s village had the opportunity to chat with the cricketers in small groups and received cricketing tips. They also had the chance to ask the players about their lives as professional cricketers. In addition, the youngsters bowled deliveries to their special guests and tried batting against them, while staff and fellow residents at the Village cheered from the sidelines. “The children have a wonderful spirit and it was great to meet youngsters with such a great passion for cricket. All the players really enjoyed spending time with the children and it gave us great satisfaction to see how pleased they were to learn new skills and find out about our lives as professional cricketers,” said player Taufiq Umar. “It gives us great satisfaction that we are able to provide opportunities like these through our sponsorship of domestic cricket in Pakistan,” said Badr Abbas, Emirates’ Vice President, Pakistan & Afghanistan. “We all know cricketers are idolised in Pakistan, so hopefully this chance for children to interact with such positive role models will have a lasting impact. Emirates is committed to the growth of cricket at grassroots level and it gives us great pride to be able to contribute to the local community through our passion for sport.”
