Volleyball gets a pat on the back

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Even though Volleyball is Sri Lanka’s national sport it is nowhere close to being as popular or as successful as a sport such as cricket. So should its status remain or should it be replaced by another sport?

Pix by Amila Gamage

I think Volleyball is actually quite popular in the country. Even if you look at inter school volleyball teams they are quite good. So no I would keep it as our national sport and look to promote it amongst international schools. - D. Jayasinghe (Office worker)	I think it should stay as our national sport. To play Volleyball you need only a net and a ball unlike in other sports such as cricket. So it’s very popular in the villages and places outside Colombo.
I want Volleyball to continue being the national sport. But the biggest problem is that Volleyball has not been given the same attention that cricket does. Sri Lanka has a lot of talented players. It should be focused on at the school level like cricket and rugby. - Kusal Jayawardene (Student)	It should remain our national sport even though it enjoys only minority status. It was at a very low point earlier but now standards have improved. More teams come to play, which means more people want to play the game. Those days we only saw two or three teams but now you can see lots of teams at school-level competitions. Even companies play in corporate competitions. - M. Rangika (Volleyball Coach)
I’m not sure it should be our national sport because the status Volleyball has here is pretty bad. The problem is that no sport in Sri Lanka can match cricket. It’s pretty much like the national sport because it enjoys the most popularity. - Mihiran Perera (School athlete)	I think it should remain a national sport but if you compare our level with those of other countries we are far behind. If the sports ministry pays more attention to the sport it can come to a better position. Players are not given enough facilities and motivation. - Priyanka Malkanthi (Shop owner)
It should not be our national sport because it’s restricted to a very few areas. Volleyball is only popular in very far-off places, and they’re not given enough support. Not every child can play cricket and come to a good position. The problem is that Volleyball is not taken into all the areas of the country - Roshan Perera (Sports Official)	It should stay the national sport. After Dilan Perera came in he has really uplifted the sport. Today it’s in a better position than it was in previously. There should be new tournaments and better financial incentives introduced though. - Ruwan Priyantha (Shop owner)
Kids like the sport and it is popular all around the country because it is easy to play, so it should continue being the national sport. Even I used to play volleyball. - Upamuli Gunathilake (Office worker)	I think it should be our national sport because you get a lot of teams across the country playing it. It is a simple sport, cheap and requires very little infrastructure, and in schools a lot of children are familiar with it. - Nishantha Piyasena (Assistant Secretary of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka)