FormerNationalAthleticCoach)

Ialways believed that Sri Lanka has the potential to win medals and team championships at international level. There are talented individuals in this country for every Sport. It is that, we do not have a National plan to identify these talented Athletes. The Sports Ministry and the respective National Associations should take up the responsibility of establishing a National Sports Plan.

I remember, in 2001, we got down an Australian Professor, John Bloomfield, who did a research on Sports titled, 'Sports as a vehicle for Nation-building’, and presented the report to then Sports Minister Lakshman Kiriella. The report disappeared once the Ministers changed. Recently, I reminded Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera of this report. However, the Minister was not too keen on this report, as he believed in a 5-year plan. There was a Sports Congress at the BMICH, when S.B. Dissanayake was the Sports Minister. It was conducted by the Canadian Government and the Sports Ministry. This Congress Report too, has gone missing like the Research Report, as the officials are not aware of it.

There is no official in the Sports Ministry with a good knowledge of Sports Administration. How can these officials operate without the proper knowledge. In the past, the Sports Ministry played a major role in the development of Sports events in the country. Today, the Sports Ministry is just another government institution.

Talking about talented Athletes, I remember the Sri Lanka team which won Gold medals at the 1974 Asian Games in Tehran, Iran. These Athletes did not have spikes to run on a synthetic track. They bought their spikes from Tehran and then ran on the track for the first time. Not only did they win a Gold medal, but they also set up a new Asian Games record as well. However, they were not appreciated for their efforts at that time. After many years, they were felicitated by former Sports Minister S.B. Dissanayake.

In the past, Sports in Sri Lanka was dominated by true sportsmen/sportswomen. Their motive was not financial gain. I was a member of the National Sports Council (NSC), of which, Lawyer Sidath Nandalochana was the Chairman. There was a proposal from the Sports Ministry to pay a stipend to all committee members. I remember the Chairman rejecting the offer and requesting the funds be deposited in the Sports Fund.

Another reason for Sri Lanka’s decline in Sports is because we do not have qualified coaches for training. Today, we have coaches who act as if they are experts, despite their limited knowledge in international coaching knowledge. They also keep demanding for various facilities. The Athletes do not have proper training facilities. We cannot get the desired results with so much shortcomings in Sports Administration.

Those days, Athletes were well disciplined. Today, we don't see proper discipline in any Sports events in Sri Lanka. The current Athletes perform little on the field and expect much from the authorities. We can win the Cricket World Cup and Olympic medals, if we really work honestly with wholehearted commitment. The National Associations and the Sports Ministry should take the blame for the decline in Sports in Sri Lanka.