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| Thursday, 18 November 2004 |
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Athletic hopes Last weekend's Sir John Tarbat senior schools championship proved that Sri Lanka track and field is not starved of young talent. It was the outstation schools, which dominated at most of the events, though Ananda Vidyalaya, Colombo emerged overall boys champions. All in all, there were 13 new meet records at the three-day championship at the Sugathadasa Stadium. It was encouraging to see rural schoolboys and girls making their mark. This gave an indication of our young and raw talent that is available in the provinces. But lack of a proper program to groom them under state patronage has hampered the youngsters from blossoming. Ananda and D.S. Senanayake MV were engaged in a keen tussle for supremacy in the Boys Championship. It was a mere two points that separated the two teams at the end to make Ananda champions in the boys category. Nevertheless, the progress of DSS lads during their short history is commendable, while Ananda has always been in the forefront of schools athletics. Mahinda College too could feel happy with the performance that was displayed by their boys to secure the third place, falling only eight points behind champions Ananda. The girls champions too was keenly contested with A. Ratnayake Central, Walala having a pleasing finish at the end. They gave a clear account of what the rural girls could offer to take Sri Lanka athletics to a new era. Following the footsteps of Ratnayake Central lasses were Sumana Balika MV from Ratnapura, who shared the runners up title for girls with Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya. There were many promising performance by our schoolboys and girls, but the most notable of them all was by R. K. A. Priyangika Maduwanthi of Maliyadeva Balika MV. She was adjudged most outstanding girl athlete after setting a new Sri Lanka record in the girls high jump event. Her clearance of 1.75m is creditable and if groomed properly, Sri Lanka should have a top female high jumper as well to go along with Manjula Kumara Wijesekera, the Sri Lanka men's champion who has a personal best Sri Lanka record of 2.27m. One other performance worth special mention came from G. P. Sanath Udayanga of Mahinda College, Galle. He was adjudged the most outstanding boy athlete for leaping 15.56m in triple jump. Now that the country's premier schools track and field meet is just concluded, it is the best time to draw a plan to make sure the talent unveiled would be carefully groomed and preserved for the future. Sri Lanka Schools Athletic Association has not taken adequate steps with a program to train schoolboys and girls. They should not just let the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka handle each and everything. The schools athletic officials must at least reward the outstanding athletes with some foreign exposure or an intensive training camp for the winners. There should also be a greater relationship between the schools athletic officials and the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka so that our schoolboys and girls could get a better deal. Many of whom who competed at the John Tarbat meet would have come with various difficulties. Some even would have found it hard to meet their travelling expenses to Colombo. The recognition that they get for the dedication and hard work to come out with such outstanding performance should not just be confined to a piece of paper as a certificate. Of the top performers at the meet, at least a few needy athletes with future potential should be identified to be offered sports scholarships. That would ease the burden of their poor parents who are undergoing numerous problems in day-to-day life. Schoolboy and girl athletes, who look future Sri Lanka material, should be identified after the meet and they should be directed to proper coaches to sharpen their hidden skills. Many of them are unable to pay to obtain services of a top coach. But there again, there are a few devoted athletic coaches with proven track records who value the skills of an athlete more than money. An athlete of the calibre of Damayanthi Darsha, the three time Asian Games gold medallist, would not have emerged if not for the talent search done by the famous sprint couple - Sunil and Badra Gunawardena. It was their early identification of Darsha's talents that made the lass to come from Ampara and get education at Ladies College. This is just one example how the raw skills of outstation products could be sharpened. Similarly, Olympic athlete Manjula Kumara Wijesekera is doing well in the big league and has shown early from. His return to Colombo from Ruhuna and then to the United States later this month would be an investment for Sri Lanka athletics. A few more such opportunities should be offered to young athletes with future potential.On the other hand, Sri Lanka Schools Athletic Association must have a program to direct emerging athletes to reputed coaches. May be this could be coupled with an Education Ministry initiated program to find them better schools so that they could shine in both extra and co-curricular activities. These are some of the areas on which the officials of the Athletic Association, Education Ministry and the Sports Ministry should sit and plan out. If that is not done, sports careers of those emerging young athletes would have a premature end. The talent is there in plenty, but a proper nationwide program to sustain them in sport is lacking. |
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