Nice to have athletes from North and East

Today is the second day of the All-Island Senior Schools Athletic Championship for the Sir John Tarbat Trophy at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo.

It is heartening to see nearly 2,500 schoolboys and girls taking part at the three-day Championships which concludes tomorrow. The total 1,460 boys and 950 girls from three different age groups - under 16,18 and 20 are taking part in the championship.

Thanks to our valiant Security Forces and the untiring efforts of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, terrorism has now been eradicated and the youngsters in the North and the East have got an opportunity to engage in their usual co-curricular as well as extra-curricular activities.

There are 320 schools from all parts of the island taking part at the Senior Schools Athletic Championship for the Sir John Tarbat Trophy. That includes some of the leading schools from the Northern and the Eastern Provinces. The LTTE terrorists never allowed these innocent schoolchildren to indulge in sports activities.

But what matters is to give those boys and girls all encouragement and necessary facilities to sharpen their skills. There is rich talent in the North and the East but what matters is to carefully groom them for the future.

The same applies to other provinces as well.

The Tarbat Trophy meet was once considered one of the most prestigious events in local sport. In the good old days, Senior Schools Athletic Championship for the Sir John Tarbat Trophy had been producing many talented athletes. It had been the breeding shade for outstanding young athletes.

We could regain the lost glory if we implement a sensible program to groom the most outstanding athletes of the Senior Schools Athletic Championship for the Sir John Tarbat Trophy. Schoolboys and girls who perform well must see a future. If not they will be demoralised. They will give up athletics if we don't appreciate their achievements and give them an incentive to blossom in the big league.

We must also take care of those who performed creditably at the recent National Sports Festival in Polonnaruwa.

Western Province underlined its supremacy winning the overall championship title for a record 34th time with a rich haul of 77 gold, 55 silver and 50 bronze medals. Nevertheless, sportsmen and sportswomen from the Central province gave them a close run to secure the second place.

The emergence of J.A.N.K. Appuhamy of Uva Province as the best men's athlete is an indication that our athletics is not starved of talent. We must protect these talent and groom them carefully.

High jumper R.A.K. Priyangika Madumanthi of North Central Province came out with an impressive performance to establish a new meet record while R.P.M.S. Wijeratne of Sabaragamuwa Province set a new Sri Lanka record. Madumanthi bettered her own mark of 1.77m in women's High Jump final clearing a height of 1.78m.

We must spot this raw talent early. These uncut gems are the future of Sri Lanka sport. A comprehensive program is necessary to make sure these talented rural sport stars are looked after properly. They should be given the encouragement, guidance and support.

Unfortunately, even our Olympic poolists are a forgotten lot. Nobody seems to be showing any interest to find out what they do or how hard they train with financial constrains. It is the duty of the Sports Ministry to assist them and give a lending hand for their future medal prospects.

When last year's Beijing Olympics was over, the Sports Ministry assured that a proper training program would commence from early this year. With less than three months way to the end of this calendar year, we are still waiting for the Sports Ministry's Olympic super pool to be formed.

The Asian Athletics Championship is around the corner there is hardly anything left for us to do. We do not believe in instant training because all the world champions have reached the pinnacle with sheer dedication, devotion and determination. Unless we make an investment for the future, we cannot have any medal hopes in future international events.

What we could do at this stage is to pick a tentative Asian Games pool and groom them for next year's Asian Games in China. It should not be just namesake training pool but a true residential training pool with all necessary facilities.

We understand the difficulty is doing so and finances that are needed.

Hence, we suggest a small pool to start with. Get only the best medal prospects. In sport at which we could not find medal prospects, we could still find the most post outstanding sportsman or two. The cream of local sport should be included in the Asian Games pool and allow them to train with a reasonable monthly incidental allowance, accommodation, meals and nutrition.

This is exactly how Sri Lanka found the successful formula to produce Olympic, World Championships, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Asian Championships medallists from 1995 to 2000.

We cannot expect the National Sports Associations to carry the heavy burden. It is the duty of the Sports Ministry to help them. Apart from the Ministry funds, the Ministry officials should go that extra mile to find sponsors.

That was exactly how the things were done in that golden era during which Sri Lanka's sporting history was re-written.