Time to unite and make SA Games a success

The 10th South Asian Games to be hosted by Sri Lanka is fast approaching. We are less than a month away from the eight-nation Games. But where do we stand? Can we reach our targets, both in the areas of organisation and our contingent's performances, as planned? Could we fulfil our dream of hosting the best ever SA Games?

With exactly 28 days to go for the South Asian version of the Olympics, its high time to take stock of what we have been doing and then plan out strategy to go for our targets and goals in the short time left.

In some sports, there are good medal prospects. Among those who have been shaping well in recent competitions are the athletes, boxers and weightlifters. Though athletics stands as the brightest gold medal prospect amongst 20 disciplines, there are a few more disciplines in which we could win medals.

Interestingly, old hands Susanthika Jayasinghe and Rohan Pradeep Kumara came good at the National championships while high jumper Manjula Kumara has recovered from his leg injury.

With Damayanthi Darsha back to join Jayasinghe, we could also make a strong claim for women's 4 x 100m relay gold. Javelin thrower Anne Maheshi Silva is going to make her presence felt. Despite a stiff challenge from India, Sri Lanka could still press for men's 4 x 400m gold medal.

True that our sportsmen and women did not get the long-term training they ought to get. But with available limited resources, we should make the maximum use to sharpen the talents of our sportsmen and women and groom them for the big challenge.

When we hosted the 5th SA Games in 1991, Sri Lanka sportsmen and women fared exceptionally well to make the host nation proud with a rich harvest of 118 medals - 44 gold, 34 silver and 40 bronze. Could we do the same this time round? It's going to be a gigantic task. But we must not give up the battle. Motivation should be the name of the game and we must make every effort to give of our best with our promising talent.

There is no point in blaming others, crying, complaining about the things that we don't have. The sportsmen and women in the Sri Lanka contingent must feel that they are a special lot, true sons and daughters of our soil who have got a rare honour. Hence, they should inject the willpower to make Mother Lanka proud.

On the other hand, there have been many instances allegedly where funds have not been managed properly in purchasing equipment and other materials needed for the SA Games. Some questionable deals were immediately cancelled or rectified after the media highlighted them. There could be a few more. Though the top most organisers are doing an honest job, there are a few odd ones in the sub committees who value money more than anything else.

This is not the occasion to make money. The SA Games is not a business venture. This is not the time to make excuses, blame others or complain. It's the time to unite and make our country proud. Everybody involved in the Games as competitors, officials or organisers, must put aside petty differences and unite like one family to take Sri Lanka's sporting image to the world.

Local media too have a big responsibility to play. All criticism must be levelled and shortcomings must be exposed now and should end at least one week ahead of the Games, before our foreign guests arrive. Even if there are weak links or questionable deals, we should refrain from publicising them during the Games, when foreign athletes, guests, Olympic officials and more importantly, international media, are here.

True that it's our responsibility as media personalities to expose corruption and fight against injustice, but at the same time, we as Sri Lankans, have a national responsibility in this hour.

Hence, we must not wash dirty linen in public. All such constructive criticism should be levelled before or after the Games and definitely not during the Games.

Everybody involved in the SA Games should feel that this is 'our show' and that we have an extra responsibility to maintain the good name of our country. Even the contractors and local suppliers should feel this is a nation cause and refrain from adopting a 'maximum profit' policy. Then there are people who try to explore the situation to the maximum and charge more than ten times or even more, the actual price. Please do not play with our valuable public funds!

The Government has pumped in over Rs 600 million for the Games, considering it as a national cause.

It has been done in good faith as an investment for youth. Hence, we must use every penny carefully and should not fall in to the traps of money hungry people who are eyeing on the millions of rupees involved. If all of us could genuinely contribute whatever we could, we still have a chance of making the SA Games a success.