(RetiredSportsDirector-MinistryofEducation)

SL is the only country in the South Asian region to have produced an Olympic medal in Athletics. But unfortunately, SL has suffered a huge setback in Women’s sports during the past 17 years. I could name a lot of reasons for this setback. I think we have come down drastically in team events, but have performed reasonably well in individual events. There are more Women in SL than Men. But there is a noticeable drop in the participation of Women in sports activities. If you take the Athletes who came into the limelight in 1991, from the SAG, they all had a highly successful schools career. In fact, SL dominated the 1991 SAG winning the overall title in the Athletic championship, and most of the Gold medals were won by Women competitors. In addition, the Women’s VB team also took Gold at this event. We can spot a number of talented boys at school level even today. But their progress has been very slow, compared with the earlier days. We do not have a proper vision and a target for Sports in the country. As a result, most parents are hesitant to send their children to compete in sports. Today, most parents are concerned about their children’s studies and their exams. Also, we do not have a proper selection criteria. As a result some of the better players are being ignored by the selectors. There should be different selection pools under schools, district, provincial and national level. This will be the ideal way to select the most talented sportsmen/ women for the respective events. Today, we see a number of selection trials being held inside two or three hours, which is not the correct way to select a National team. In this way, some of the more talented Athletes could lose their place. However, a more organised selection trial will help identify talented Athletes. We have some good qualified Coaches, Technical Officers and plenty of human resources required to produce top class sportsmen/women. Also, Women Athletes without proper employment opportunities. In addition, there is no proper solution to keep school leavers involved in the game. Another point I see is that, when we lose a tournament, there is no 'postmortem' to ascertain why the team performed badly. This situation can affect both Men and Women Athletes. The NSG which was inaugurated in 1984, is the best example to get the best sportsmen/women from school level. This was followed by the entry of some top athletes in the calibre of Damayanthi Dharsha, Sriyani Kulawansa, Dhammika Manike, Jayamini Illeperuma and Susanthika Jayasinghe, who are medalists from SAF Games up to Olympic Games. In addition, the 1991 SAG Gold medal-winning Women’s VB team and the SL Netball Team which won the Asian crown on 4 occasions, are the results of the National Sports concept. It is high time that we start looking for talented athletes from school level.