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| Thursday, 25 March 2004 |
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New boxing chief - a man with a mission by Dinesh Weerawansa Sri Lanka's new boxing chief, Dian Gomes has started his term with a clear vision of elevating local standards of the sport and producing an Olympian. Sri Lanka has not produced an Olympic boxer for the past three decades and Gomes' target is to make sure that Sri Lanka breaks that jinx. Gomes is known to be a man with a vision and a great promoter of the game. He has been the vice president of the Amateur Boxing Association of Sri Lanka for two successive years before taking over the top seat last week. The former Royal boxer and Managing Director of MAS Holdings, Gomes has played a prominent role in securing top employment opportunities for champion boxers. He has been instrumental and the live wire behind Slimline Boxing Club's success over the years and has now taken over an even greater role to play. Surely the three clubs, which nominated him for the ABA Presidency - Royal Boxing Club, Kingswood Boxing Club and Seevali Boxing Club and the three clubs which seconded - Veyangoda Boxing Club, Slimline BC and Kalutara Boxing Club, have done so with tremendous aspirations and confidence. Everybody should rally round him and make Sri Lanka boxing regain its lost pride. Three promising Sri Lanka boxers - Harsha Kumara, Manju Wanniarachchi and Ratnayake have been in China for the second qualifying round meet and Gomes' dream is to see one of them getting in to the Olympic boxing ring in Athens. Another important area to which Gomes has paid early attention is to a dual meet with an Asian country giving more international exposure to our boxers. It is important that our boxers test their talent at regional level before stepping in to the big league. That would give tremendous courage and confidence to local boxers and groom them to the international ring. As rightly identified by Gomes, maintaining a high level of competition at key domestic championships is essential as the national selectors could then have many options in forming a strong national pool. Cuban Frometo Matos has been working hard with our national boxers over the past few months and Sri Lanka should fare well at SAF Games. Unfair claim by Sri Lanka hurdler The South Asian version of the Olympics, the SAF Games, is due to get underway in the Pakistani city of Islamabad on Monday. By now the first batch of the 281-member Sri Lanka contingent would have arrived in Islamabad for the eight-nation Games and the balance is due later today. Having finally overcome all the obstacles, including the massive Rs. 16.5 million needed for the air travel, food and accommodation, the Lankan contingent is now ready to turn their hard training into medals. An unfortunate incident witnessed in athletic circles over the past week was the behavior of one of Sri Lanka's leading woman hurdlers, who had allegedly insisted that she should be included in the women's 4 x 100m relay team for the SAF Games. Though she did not take part in the recent Sri Lanka SAF Games trial meet due to an injury, the national selectors have considered her track record and included the veteran woman hurdler in her pet event. However, the officials have insisted that she take part in a fitness trial if she is to find a place in women's 100m relay team. But the athlete concerned has stated that she should be given her place in the relay team without a trial and one of the top coaches too has allegedly backed her in this case. As a result of athletic officials and coaches standing firm, she was to take part in last evening and the outcome was not known at the time of writing. Being a senior athlete on the track for nearly 15 years, she should know better that how unfair and demoralising it is for the emerging athletes who have already qualified to run in the relay team, if she is given a chance to run in the relay without a trial. Setting an example There are enough of big time sponsors to inject financial backing to the so-called affluent sports and their major sporting events. But it has not been so rosy for most of the other sports in Sri Lanka. It is under such circumstances that a leading multinational company has come forward to resurrect the national sport volleyball, in a remote outstation school. Caltex Lubricants Lanka would have been aware of the limited mileage they get by supporting the Dhammissara National School, Nattandiya volleyball team. But Caltex's young and energetic Managing Director / CEO, Kishu Gomes had thought otherwise, and thus their national duty to promote a less affluent sport and a team. Dhammissara team from North Western province has been a leading force in the local volleyball scene and it was a fitting tribute when Caltex came forward to sponsor the team for a period of three years, without merely considering the mileage they get for their investment. It is not the first time that Caltex embarked on such a venture, having sponsored Seevali Central College boxing team before. At a time when local firms forget their national duty and go merely on the maximum mileage they get for a little investment on a sponsorship. The act by Caltex has been exemplary and excellent. As the Caltex chief Gomes had stated, their sports sponsorship philosophy is quite different from most other organizations. They help sport and sports personalities who really need help. Having been associated closely with Gomes for many years, in the late 80s and early 90 in the local inter-school cricket scene, it is heartening to note his thinking and vision. |
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