(Director- Sports, University of Kelaniya and Athletic Statistics Recorder - Sri Lanka Athletic Association)

“During the 60’s and 70’s, school games entered a competitive era, though their standard at that time was below par. The Education Ministry at that time, did not hold the All-island School Games on a regular basis, mainly due to financial reasons. It was not held in 1974 and 1975. Due to not having the Games on a regular basis, there was no way of unearthing school talent. At that time, there was no SAG. The only Games our Athletes participated in was the Asian Games. From 1951 onwards, we were able to win medals at the Asian Games. Due to many unknown reasons, our athletes were not able to win a single medal from 1978 to 1990. During this time, there was no proper stadium to hold the All-island School Games. If an Athlete succeeded in winning a medal, it was solely due to his/her total sacrifice and talent and not due to any assistance from the government. I can vouch for it from my personal experience. In 1983, the Education Ministry put forward a new policy for School Games. Consequently, the All-Island Games was changed to the NSG. This turned out to be a very competitive event and produced talented athletes. This resulted in our Athletes excelling and taking top honours against favourites India who came second best at the 1991 SAG. At the 1997 World Athletic Championship in Athens, Susanthika Jayasinghe won Silver in the 200 metres. At the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, our Athletes won many medals. The crowning achievement was Susanthika Jayasinghe winning Silver in the 200 metres at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. All these Athletes had proper training at school level, and were later trained by qualified coaches. Athletes and coaches responsible for these achievements received many benefits, which turned out to be the downfall of all Sports. The best Athletes at school level, who were trained by PTIs, were not released to National level coaches, thinking, they (PTIs) will not receive benefits ultimately. I think this affected all events, except team Sports like Volleyball. Also, competitiveness in coaching, resulted in infighting among the coaches. At the 1991 SAG, there were only 14 Athletic coaches, which increased to 34 for the same Games in 2006. Though there was an increase in athletic coaches, it did not yield the desired results, with a drop in quality in athletics. Athletes such as Susanthika, Darsha, Sugath, Sriyani, Rohan and Prasanna who were at their peak in 2000, continued to win medals at Asian level till 2008. Since then, we are searching for medals. When you look back to the 80’s and 90’s, Athletics at school level was well planned and developed. During that period, each year, we saw new athletic records. But it was all limited to school and junior level. Once you leave school, this type of training is not available. Now What we all want to see now, is a plan for the 21st century, and hope the relevant officials will act on it as soon as possible.