Heed the advice given by medical authorities
View(s):The often repeated story was heard again more as an argument than a discussion. That is about the amount of money that is spent and the expectation. This will be more intense as today the talk is about the number of foreign coaches that have taken assignents in schools and the huge amounts that are included in the budgets being ‘supplemented’.
The Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) has commenced a process for the registration of all coaches. In this exercise the schools section has joined hands to make it mandatory for coaches to be registered with the SLRFU.
This is the first step in a plan to ensure that all coaches are qualified or set to qualify in the future. The organization of IRB coach education programmes, where more can attend at a lesser cost, is a step in the right direction taken by the SLRFU. Hopefully this may not turn out be like a driving license possessed by many while only a few can actually drive. The huge sums spent would have to have an outlet for non performance and the match official will be the scapegoat despite the fact that it is acknowledged that all coaches may not be qualified. The secretary of the schools section acknowledges that the best practices may not have been there and burnout and other issues, including player injury, mismanagement and fatigue may have resulted due to the absence of sound coaching practices. This is a major reason for the SLRFU forming a committee under Chula Dharmadasa to work with the Sports Medicine Unit to emphasise the need for rugby to be safe. The President of the SLRFU, Asanga Seneviratne, said that the Union was conscious of the need to have a proper structure and it was addressing this requirement in order to be among the best.
A coach who is of international repute would, I am certain, have at least seen a video of some of the matches and would have had some idea before taking over when he has to face the challenge of playing in around two months. This made my head spin in a direction to think that he knows some aspects of skill will have to be taught before he starts to coach.
If you accept this conclusion at the need for teaching what about the schools rugby that we boast of so much. The influx of foreign coaches can only help if the game can be polished at this time, provided the foundation is there. Probably having listened to the foreign coaches who have been in Sri Lanka, the Union has recognised the need to educate and accredit coaches in the IRB system that is to be in place to improve the game worldwide.
Professor Arjun de Silva, the Head of the Sports Ministry’s Medicine Unit, addressing the Sri Lanka Rugby pool told the players that the recent test on around 30 player from the pool revealed that the average fat percentage was around 25% with an extreme of 36%. This is true of some schoolboys who had been tested according to a veteran coach. The professor explained that a person with 36% fat content might take the shortcut of using substances for better results and end up increasing the fat to maybe 40%. If you are not committed to training and look at shortcuts by using supplements then you will not go far was the simple statement he made.
To me this was a startling revelation as the improperly trained cannot perform at the top level. Equally amazing was that these are the best we have, which also means that something has not been properly: despite huge budgets that employ coaches, trainers, motivators and many others to the rugby staff.
He also said that those who need supplements will have to be given same but that needs to be assessed and administered scientifically. Taking off the shelf products and using without supervision over long periods may cause harm on the long run. These products may have banned substances and if detected will result in the Sri Lanka Image being tarnished was his view.
Professor Arjun de Silva explained and commented that the game must be played, clean safe and strong If you are in taking performance enhancers in the guise of dietary supplements you are fooling yourself. What a player need to remember is that the excuse that I bought it off the shelf and that the label does not indicate any bad substances or that so and so gave me is will not be a cause for defence.
The warning that has to be heeded is that there is a serious lead to pass legislature that will enable to send to jail coaches as well as trainers who have been found to have been providing and or encouraging the use of banned substances. The use of such substances is on the rise and is also ruining top athletes after a short period of playing .Commenting on Chandrishan Perera Chairman of Rugby Selectors said that what was been done is like putting Petrol to a Diesel Engine. Unfortunately you can’t burn diesel well in a petrol engine. It will smoke a lot and miss.
If you are not up to the mark for the physical challenge the excuse of we have spent so much is not the answer. The answer is to make a super athlete for which there is no short cut but to train hard and be committed to do so and be guided by sound principles.
Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited Referees Evaluator IRB
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