Were preparations adequate?

Sri Lanka will send a record 110-member contingent for the 2006 Commonwealth Games which is due to begin in the Victorian capital of Melbourne in Australia on Wednesday. The 110-member contingent will comprise 70 competitors (50 men and 20 women), 25 coaches and managers and another 25 other officials.

Though it was originally planned to send a contingent of around 70 members, the strength of the team from Colombo has gone up to 110, as Sri Lanka will be competing in ten disciplines. Surprisingly, there are only nine athletes in the team - six men and three women.

True enough, we must give maximum possible opportunities to our up and coming sportsmen and women. They should be given international exposure, especially at a time we are preparing for two games of greater importance - the 10th South Asian Games in Colombo and the 15th Asian Games in Doha, later this year.

But the big question is whether we have made enough preparations and whether we have made the right selections. While we leave the selection criteria to the respective national selectors, it is evident that Sri Lanka has not made enough preparations for a Game of this magnitude.

While most other countries put in a lot of hard effort for years to prepare for this mega event, what we still practice often is to make a hurriedly picked team for the sake of participation and to give that much sought after 'overseas travel experience' to our sports administrators.

Of the all ten NSAs, which field teams, we feel only the boxers have made the ideal preparations for the Games. Thanks to the untiring efforts of the energetic President of the Amateur Boxing Association of Sri Lanka, Dian Gomes, the ring sport here has got a new life over the years. As a result, our boxers have started earning reputation at regional level international meets.

Hence, we feel the 11-member boxing team is the most deserving to be in the Sri Lanka contingent. They are a classic example for other NSAs to follow. Despite all the talking, we still practice the common method of picking teams weeks before a Games and give some makeshift training for the sake of doing so.

More than the preparations of the teams, the officials are keen to win that huge battle of finding a place in the team even as a delegate or an observer, thanks to the corrupt sports administration existing in most countries of the contingent. We are not against hardworking and genuine sports officials making a trip or two. Of course they deserve that break for the untiring efforts they put in.

But there are only a handful of such officials, who are hard to find these days. Instead, we have loads of power hungry officials who have prospered due to the sweat of our poor sportsmen and women. It's the same set of officials who make foreign tours in most NSAs, or they do 'musical chairs' to take positions and tours.

It was disclosed at the news conference before the team's departure that at least four regional directors of sports are making the trip. The only capacity on which they could make such tours is as an observer or team delegate.

True enough their experience could be useful to the country in the long run, especially at a time we are preparing ourselves to host the most successful ever South Asian Games in a few months time.

But on many instances, we have sent Government officials on the verge of their retirement age. Then what contribution could they make after such a trip? Perhaps, that could only be a reward for the favours they have made or for their extraordinary loyalty to politicians.

We are not saying the quota of such officials should be abolished. Though it could be sliced down to accommodate an extra sportsman or two, we must also take hardworking officials whose experience on such tours could be used effectively thereafter.

Then there are a few officials who are making the tour at their own expense, staying outside the Games Villages. Why is this extraordinary love for the sport?

In future, we must identify such sports events in advance and make preparations for at least a year and groom a team. Even the selection of officials should be made with their present and future contribution to our sports in mind.

A special tribute should go to the principal sponsor of the Sri Lanka contingent, Dialog Telekom. They are playing the role of a true corporate citizen and their contribution to Sri Lanka sports has been immense.