Schools are the breeding grounds

The outgoing president of the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka, Sunil Jayaweera stressed one important point at his final media conference before last Saturday's elections. He said the right place to start a promotion or a development plan in any sport is at school level.

Perhaps, some would jump to say that there is nothing new in that and that is a universal fact. But Jayaweera has successfully experimented and tested that fact in Sri Lanka and has all right to carry out that innovation here.

Jayaweera said if anyone is thinking of a good national team in any sport without concentrating at school level, they are sadly mistaken. It was Jayaweera who injected the power of schoolboys and girls to Sri Lanka Sports.

Being one of the most senior administrators in school physical administration system until his retirement, Jayaweera played a key role to conduct the National School Games at the highest level. It was during the 90s that he brought the National School Games to its highest ever levels and the 'innovations' made during that period are still nourishing Sri Lanka sports.

Jayaweera said the Sports Ministry, Education Ministry, Mahaweli Ministry and Youth Affairs Ministry must join hands to draw a national program for the development of sports. How very true.

But who is going to play the anchor role and unite these Ministries to work under a common umbrella. One other important ingredient to make a successful recipe to develop sports is the Ministry of Higher Education.

The local University system, which at one time was in the forefront of local sports, could be effectively used to make a breeding ground for the young undergraduates who take their sporting skills from school level.

Then there are Higher Education institutes, Technical Colleges, Education Colleges and local institutions which conduct foreign university degree programs here. All those institutions could effectively get involved so that the sporting talents of schoolchildren, including those who study at international schools, would not go waste just because they advance to their higher education.

Similarly, the Ministries of Mahaweli and Youth Affairs could bring their talented sportsmen and women for a common program. They host their own Mahaweli Games and Youth Games respectively and those who blossom there could be identified to be directed to a national level program to be conducted by the Ministry of Sports, which must play the leading role in co-ordinating the entire exercise.

Prior to that, the Ministry of Sports and the Ministry of Education must draw a common mechanism to harness sporting talents of schoolchildren. It is this raw talent that we should carefully groom for the future.

Thanks to the keen interest shown by a few leading educationalists at international schools, those schools too have an emerging sports force. Veterans like Mohan Lal Grero (Lyceum) and R.I.T. Alles (Gateway), have paid good attention to extra-curricular activities in their respective schools and also to unite the international schools sporting family.

Grero's investment of rupees seven million for a 100m artificial running track at Wattala, only the second in Sri Lanka after Sugathadasa Stadium, is a good example of the keenness shown by some of the international school administrators.

Unless we get the schools actively involved in the development of sports, we cannot think of a future. But if we get this whole exercise in to action and once the mechanism starts working in a few years time, the national pools in all sports could expect regular feed of young talent to fill the vacancies of their respective national pools.

Then comes the 'readymade' question - Where is the money to run a huge program of this nature? Calculate each of the above Ministries and institutions spend annually for their various sports activities, add little more for that in the name of the youth in this country and then you have enough and more finances to get the program going. In addition, a little bit of 'good marketing' could attract a few sponsors.

The heavyweights in would sports have reached the top like that. As we had stressed before, there are no short cuts to reach the top in the world of sports. Hard work and dedication is the key to success.

The Government should also realise that the sports minded society would lead to a healthy nation, thereby reducing several other burdens, especially in the field of health and social welfare.

That kind of an atmosphere would lead to a nation with innovative ideas, social harmony, a new generation of loyal and patriotic citizens. It is high time that all relevant parties sit together and draw up a plan for the nation, putting aside their petty differences, party politics and other social-economic barriers.

Such a comprehensive national sports policy should prevail, even though the colours of Governments may change from time to time.