OVER 3,000 ATHLETES TO TAKE PART IN NYSF IN ANURADHAPURA TODAY
The 31st National Youth Sports Festival (NYSF) 2019 will be held from today (February 27) to March 1 at the North Central Sports Complex, Anuradhapura. The event is organised by the National Youth Service Council (NYSC).
The opening ceremony will commence at 3:00 p.m and the Chief Guest will be Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
The event was scheduled to be held last year but due to various reasons it was postponed.
The age groups are Under-20 and Over 20 (Men and Women). Over 3000 Athletes Island wide is taking part in the Games.
There are 68 Track and Field events (in two age groups) – men and women.
The Games Torch will be lit by Aruna Dharshana (Matale) and V.R. Himasha Cooray (Nagarika Tarunaya District) this evening. This pair were the best athletes in 2018.
Parallel to this will be the Volleyball (Men and Women), Netball and Kabadi (Men and Women) events. The finals of these events will be held tomorrow.
In the Track and Field the Best Athletes (Men and Women) in the two age groups will receive a motorcycle each.
There are cash prizes for those who establish new records, with Rs. 50,000 for each new national record and Rs. 10,000 for each new meet record.
At the last edition of the Festival (2018) the Overall Champions were Gampaha District. The runners-up were Puttalam District.the athletics events will commence tomorrow (February 28) and there will be 19 finals.
The final of the men’s football tournament will also be held tomorrow.