Shahbaz Ibrahim
Pakistan
Pakistan Rowing Federation
Secretary General
1st Batch Graduate
Q1. Please introduce yourself.
I am Shahbaz Ibrahim, DTM class of 2013. I am currently working at Pakistan Rowing Federation as a Secretary General. Besides serving Pakistan Rowing Federation, I am also working at Imperial University, Lahore as an Assistant Professor in the department of Sports Sciences and Physical Education. I am also a qualified International Olympic Committee Course Director (CD) for conducting Olympic Solidarity Sports Management courses for capacity building of people working in National Sports Federation in Pakistan since 2016.
Q2. Please describe your responsibilities and roles as a Secretary General, Pakistan Rowing Federation.
As a Secretary General of Pakistan Rowing Federation, I act as the integral link for development of rowing sport in Pakistan since I am responsible for ensuring that rowers (athletes) can be given ample training to develop skills at elite level, and they can be given opportunities to participate in national and international competitions frequently. This requires me along with my team to arrange resources (material and human) that enable Pakistan Rowing Federation to continuously implement its development and competitions participative plans. Furthermore, I have been acting as the spokesperson/figurehead of Pakistan Rowing Federation who superintend all the work and sign and all the correspondence on behalf of Pakistan Rowing Federation.
Q3. What was your proudest moment in your career?
My most recent proudest moment in my career came in 2017, when Pakistan Rowing Team was selected through a transparent selection system which was put in place by me, and my team produced results in the Asian Indoor Rowing Championships 2017 by winning 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal. This was the best performance by Pakistan Rowing team at Asian level since its establishment in 1958, and it was also an important and proud moment because Pakistan Rowing Team won medal at any international level after 11 years draught. Personally, I would like to say, since being selected in the Dream Together Master program, my proud moments have started as being one of 18 students selected in the first batch. I passed the International Olympic Committee Sports Management Course Director training and exam held in Sri Lanka in 2016 as I was the only fully qualified CD amongst other participants.
Q4. What part of your job was the most challenging?
Life as a Secretary General of Pakistan Rowing Federation is not easy at all as my job is under scrutiny all the time as media is very vigilant, and Pakistani public follows sports very anxiously. I am being responsible to ensure everything is done on merit and the constitution of federation puts me in awkward situations everyday and so I have to put emotions aside and take all decisions objectively. Unfortunately, it has led to increase in unsatisfied/disappointed stakeholders. Also, one of the most challenging parts is obviously rowing team selection process where every athlete hopes to get selected to represent Pakistan, but many of them have to return back home due to limitation of seats and financial resources.
[During Training Program for National Course Directors in Sri Lanka. (From the left) Shahbaz Ibrahim (1st batch alumnus), Prof. B.L.H.Perera, and Gobinath Sivarajah (5th batch student)]
Q5. How does the Dream Together Master help you with your job?
Dream Together Master program is not just a program, it’s a philosophy that develops the vision of selected students. It makes students to dream big and make their big dreams come true. The program is a credit to me. It has given me the abilities to become a critical thinker as well as a visionary person through giving me exposure to a variety of areas such as management, marketing, event organization, governance, media, development, law & arbitration domains.
Based on what I learned from the Dream Together Master program, my team and I are currently working on the revision of Pakistan Rowing Federation’s constitution. I along with my team were able to get a sponsorship of about 2 million for participation in Asian Indoor Rowing Championships 2017 from the private sector just because of the skills acquired from this program.
