For girls who play sport in Pakistan, the biggest gap has rarely been talent. It has been a national stage — a tournament big enough, regular enough, and serious enough that a school or club player can see a path from her city to the country. The National Empower Girls Tournament, now in its third year and held in partnership with the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme, is built to be that stage. This guide explains what it covers, what PMYP’s partnership actually means, and what to confirm if you are already registered, and what to watch for the next edition — because some of the details circulating about it are event-listing figures, not government figures, and the two should not be confused.
The partnership, confirmed
The tournament is run by Empower Sports Academy, described as Pakistan’s leading non-profit dedicated to empowering girls through sport, and its third edition — the 3rd National Empower Girls Tournament 2026 — was announced at Governor’s House as held in partnership with the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme. Its founder, Alisha Junaid, herself a young national-level volleyball player, frames the tournament as a pipeline to the world stage rather than a single event.
The partnership runs deeper than a logo. PMYP and Empower Sports Academy signed a Letter of Intent at the Prime Minister’s Office under which the two sides run a nationwide multi-sport talent hunt to identify and train 10,000 young women under 19 each year, and create the Empower Women National Tournament as Pakistan’s first large-scale national women’s sports competition. Under that agreement, PMYP supports the tournament through nationwide promotion, coordination between ministries, and securing venues, while the academy builds the high-performance frameworks, evaluation tools, and coaching pathways. That is a substantive partnership, not a ceremonial one — and it is why this post treats the tournament as a genuine PMYP-linked platform rather than a private event borrowing the programme’s name.
What the tournament covers
Four disciplines are confirmed for the tournament: volleyball, badminton, taekwondo, and athletics. The age-group structure reported for the event listing is: volleyball at under-14, under-16, and under-19; badminton at under-13, under-15, and under-17 in singles and doubles; taekwondo at under-14, under-16, and under-19; and track and field including the 100m, 200m, and 400m, with javelin throw and discus also named in the announcement coverage. Treat those brackets as the event’s published structure, and confirm the bracket for your own age against the organiser’s current registration page — age brackets are the detail most likely to shift between editions.
The event listing also describes preliminary rounds across cities from 7 to 21 November 2026, with quarterfinals, semifinals and finals in Islamabad from 19 to 24 December 2026, and registration fees of Rs. 1,000 per team and Rs. 200 per player, with multi-team discounts. Both the dates and the fees are event-listing figures, attributed here as such — they are not government fees, and they are not confirmed in this post as final. If the organiser’s page shows different dates or fees from those above, the organiser’s page wins — and the 30 Sept 2026 registration deadline on the listing means no new 2026 entry should be assumed.
How to approach registration
Registration for the 2026 edition closed on 30 Sept 2026 according to the event listing, and the listing required NADRA FRC documents four weeks before the tournament start — so this guide is not a ‘register now’ guide for 2026. If you are already registered, confirm your age group, sport, city round (7–21 Nov) and Islamabad finals slot (19–24 Dec) on the organiser’s current page. If you are not registered, watch for the next edition’s announcement instead of paying anyone claiming a late slot.
Before you commit anything, confirm that the edition you are entering is the current one (not last year’s listing), that your age group and sport are actually offered in it, and that the fee and venue details match the organiser’s current page — not a forwarded post. Enter through Empower Sports Academy’s own channels or PMYP announcements, and never pay an individual or an unofficial page claiming to hold a tournament slot.
For players coming through the wider youth sports system, the tournament sits naturally alongside our Talent Hunt Youth Sports League trials guide — a national league route for twelve sports, of which this girls’ tournament is a focused, PMYP-partnered complement, not a replacement.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Empower tournament really partnered with PMYP?
Yes. The 3rd National Empower Girls Tournament 2026 was announced in partnership with PMYP, and a PMYP–Empower Sports Academy Letter of Intent covers a nationwide girls’ talent hunt and the Empower Women National Tournament, with PMYP supporting promotion, coordination, and venues.
Which sports are included?
Volleyball, badminton, taekwondo, and athletics (including 100m, 200m, 400m, javelin, and discus), across under-13 to under-19 age brackets depending on the sport.
What does registration cost?
The event listing quotes Rs. 1,000 per team and Rs. 200 per player, with multi-team discounts. Those are event-listing figures, not government fees — confirm them on the organiser’s current page.
Where and when are the finals?
The event listing describes preliminary rounds across cities from 7 to 21 November 2026, with quarterfinals, semifinals and finals in Islamabad from 19 to 24 December 2026. Confirm the current edition’s dates on the organiser’s page before travelling.
Final note: YouthSchemes.com is independent of PMYP and Empower Sports Academy; confirm dates, fees, and registration on the organiser’s own page.