If you want to know about your present sports set up then look around you. Our predecessors who toiled on and off the field for Sri Lanka to come out of the clutches of colonialism way back in 1948 are long forgotten.
The legendary Duncan White brought honour to the country by being the first recipient of an Olympic medal at the London (Wembley) Olympics in 1948. This coincided with Sri Lanka gaining independence. Those who administered sports in their respective national bodies did not work for personal gains nor did the participants have sponsorship packages as at present.
Even the Minister of Sports never played around with petty politics. He appointed men of standing who commanded respect. They called a 'spade a spade'.
The likes of P. Saravanamuttu, Robert Senanayake, Dr. N.M. Perera, Gamini Dissanayake and Ana Punchihewa etc. (cricket) Julian Grero (athletics) Noel Gratien, Rudra Rajasingham, Willem Mollegoda, Kavan Rambukwella, Denzil Kobbekaduwa, Y.C. Chang, Lionel Almeida etc. (rugby). They played hard, but were squeaky clean on and of the field. They maintained the true spirit of rugby.
To get to the present plight of this popular sport, it is a right royal mess due to the incompetence of the Minister for Sports. Apparently he is being instructed by those outside the touchline for personal gain.
But there was a glimmer of hope when the Sri Lanka team led by Pavithra Fernando overcame Thailand 51-17 in Dubai last week. Let’s not be elated with the result. Thailand have not been playing rugby for some time and they came up against a Sri Lanka side who left our shores destined to be beaten but overcame all odds to win.
This shows that there is talent even in the second string teams of Sri Lanka. What has to be done is that this talent has to be tapped and nurtured accordingly. That is a task for those in charge of the game.
As a weather beaten journalist who has been on the beat for over 50 years, I have seen the good and the bad side of the coin where ministers of the calibre of late V.A. Sugathadasa, the genial K.B. Ratnayake (a towering personality and a proud product of Anuradhapura who studied at a leading school in Jaffna). KB was appointed to look after the schools cricket and football teams when the entire team comprised of Tamil players!
As Minister of Sports KB acted without fear or favour and later became the Speaker of the House. During his tenure sports blossomed and bloomed. The likes of Shelley Wickremasinghe, one of his administrators will testify to this effect.
Imagine the present Minister of Sports who appoints two national rugby captains! Rugby is no longer a sport for the elite schools, but also for the keen rural schools and the youth from villages.
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