Ideal platform for budding athletes

The inaugural Junior South Asian Athletic Championship begins in Colombo today. Sugathadasa Stadium would provide a platform for the budding young athletes in South Asia to display their track and field skills.

The idea of organising a meet such as this is a commendable one and full marks to the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AASL) for undertaking the responsibility of becoming the proud host of the first ever Junior South Asian meet.

At a time finances are hard to find, the AASL has come out with a formula to host the meet in an ‘economical’ level. Thanks to the untiring efforts of the AASL President, Major General Palitha Fernando, Sri Lanka has been able to provide an ideal opportunity for South Asia’s future track and field stars.

A Championship of this magnitude, undoubtedly, is a big opportunity for young athletes to test their skills at international level. It would also give them international level experience as well as improve self-confidence before they walk into the big league - at South Asian Games or Asian Games level.

Most elite athletes in the world circuit have walked into the international arena through junior meets of this nature. Even, our own Olympic medallist Susanthika Jayasinghe first came to limelight by winning a sprint double at the Junior Asian Track & Field Meet in Jakarta some 15 years ago.

Hence, it is important that we give more opportunities to our youngsters to test their skills at international level. Especially for Lankan junior athletes, it would be a double bonus as they would get a rare opportunity to compete at an international meet under favourable home conditions.

On numerous occasions, we have stressed the importance of picking the talent at tender age and grooming them carefully for the future. It is an investment for the future. Hence, we must now make the best use of the Junior South Asian meet to groom a good feeder pool.

The AASL exercise should not end here. The Lankan junior athletes who finish within the top six in all finals should be drawn into a special Sri Lanka junior pool. The AASL should draw up a special training schedule for their emerging athletes who should be groomed carefully.

The story should not end there. These emerging young athletes should be granted a special monthly allowance as well as necessary nutrition and other medical facilities. This is how we could boost their morale and sharpen their skills.

There may not be instant results but in the long run, Lanka could benefit from a project of this nature.

As we have emphasised regularly, there are no short cuts to success. All top world class medallists have gone through immense hardships on their road to success.

Hence, we should give all support and encouragement for our future stars to blossom.

In the meantime, we should offer some open meets in the Asian circuit for these junior poolists. They should be tested at open international meets in countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and India.

Based on their performances at those meets and progress at local competitions, they should be trained for the next South Asian Games.

Our next target should be to have a strong national pool for the 2010 Asian Games. In order to gain necessary standards by then, we should implement a talent search and continue with a junior national squad. If not, we would be forced to continue with the long standing procedure of finding a makeshift team before an international competition.

A continuous training programme is a must and it is important that both our junior as well as senior national poolists are looked after carefully with all necessary facilities. We are aware that large sum of money is needed to implement such an operation. This is where the Sports Ministry should step in.

Instead of spending lavishly on unnecessary events and on officials, the Sports Ministry should invest on a useful project of this nature, which is definitely an investment for the future. At the same time, it’s the duty of the Sports Ministry to make sure the money is properly utilised and invested on our junior national poolists.

The summer of Sri Lanka athletics is about to end with the retirements of Sriyani Kulawansa Fonseka and Damayanthi Darsha. Similarly, we would soon lose the services of our veterans Susanthika Jayasinghe, Rohan Pradeep Kumara and Sugath Tillakaratne.

They have made an immense contribution for Sri Lanka athletics and we can’t depend on them all the time.

It’s high time that Sri Lanka make use of the South Asian junior meet to find a good second string pool and prepare for the challenges ahead.