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Balasuriya spells out new lease of life for basketball
By Pelham Juriansz
DIG Mahinda Balasuriya who took over from veteran Ignatius Canagaratnam as the President of the Sri Lanka Basketball Federation (SLBF), spelt out his plans for the development of the game especially in the Outstations at the SLBG AGM held at their headquarters at Reid Avenuerecently.

Having been a sportsman in his time Balasuriya, who has been a police officer in various parts of the country, said that he had the expertise to handle different situations. Yet he stressed the fact that the Federation should work as a unit, as a team, and there is no room for personal glory, but that of the Federation and the players.

"I wish to get the help of the local bodies in those areas and work with them" emphasised Balasuriya. "We should have a goal and a mission for our Federation" said Balasuriya.

"We should, as always start at the grassroots level which is the schools, and groom the young schoolchildren", he said. "We should also take the National team Outstation. Recently I went to Chicago, USA and also to Canada and I witnessed with my own eyes how popular the game is in those parts of the world. I don't think that most people in this country know the name even of the Basketball captain in this country yet they know all the names of the cricketers. We should look after the two National teams in this country, the girls and boy's teams. I am also very keen on reviving the game in Jaffna and Batticaloa and even in Vavuniya."

"This year we hope to have the Junior and Senior Nationals and also a South Asian Zone meet," said Balasuriya, outlining the Tournaments to be held this year."One thing is that we should find the necessary funds for these Tournaments. Another is that the Media should give adequate publicity to the game, as much as they give cricket.

The South Asian Zonal Tournament includes the Southern States of India, namely Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. This Tournament was activated 3 years ago and was held in Pondicherry. This year we will be having it at the Sugathadasa Stadium, but one problem that we face will be the factor of accommodation. Then we will have club sides from two countries, Germany and Belgium (5 teams from Germany and 1 from Belgium) in late September/early October," added Balasuriya.

"One important factor is that we hope to get Basketball included in the South Asian Games for 2005 when the meeting is held on July 19 in Colombo. The South Asian Games will be held next year in Colombo and it is envisaged that we could get four countries to participate in this tournament. India and Pakistan are willing but Bangladesh and Nepal are not able to field a team." Added a concerned President.

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