A lesson to learn from the past administrators
Three or four decades ago , our local sports structure had at its apex and around it, brilliant men who were matchless in knowledge of the sport, peerless in commitment and integrity, and selfless in service. All these virtues and attributes woven together, made them as priceless silk upon which they left an indelible imprint that the relentless march of time could not erase.
When the late Dudley Senanayake created a Ministry for Sports, his cherished desire was to offer the necessary guidance and assistance through state participation, so as to help achieve technical excellence in our sports. Though the financial resources were limited at the Ministry, he always offered the National sports bodies guidance and assistance ungrudgingly.
On the other hand if we have failed to achieve international reckoning, or at least Asian reckoning in our major sports discipline, we must blame our selves and none else whom so ever. The root of the problem is quality of leadership in most of our National sports Controlling Bodies. Take a look with no prejudices and no apprehensions, and you will then come to realise the truth of my doubts.
Let us see with what resources sports bodies and their men of vision laboured both day and night in the years gone by.
By the sweat of their brow, they left no stone unturned to offer sportsmen and sportswomen playing gear, playing fields , training camps, sports clinics, competitive matches, residential training, food, medicine and the whole gamut of the inputs. All these were made available without the aid of grants, sponsorship etc, while most of the expenses were borne by the officials themselves. Men like Donovan Andree, V.A. Sugathadasa, Robert Senanayake, Julian Grero, E.R.S.R. Coomaraswamy, W.R. Chanmugam, Dr. N.M. Perera, A. E. Christoffelsz, Macan Marker, John Tarbat, C.W. Mackie and W.T. Briendly to name a few, gave both of their time and money purely for the love of the sport.
Even in the outstations, men of such eminence had stature were prominent in the field of sports. The Spencer and Phillips of Jaffna, Casinadar and Meheyzer of Batticaloa, Dahanayake and Karunaratne of Galle, Samarasekara of Matara, Attygalle and Weragame of Ratnapura, Junaideen, Senanayake and Dr. C.D.L. Fernando of Kandy are but a few whose names come into my recollection in a flash. Many were such benefactors who gave guidance and direction to our sports without the slightest fanfare. Such were the qualities of these genuine sports administrators of the bygone era. No photographs, no publicity, no tom-tom beating – only providence knew of the good being done by these exemplary men. They were exceptional who lighted up the lives of many a melancholy sportsmen. Not only did the individual benefit from their magnanimity, but the organisations and the sport by their prudent thinking, steadfast application and commitment to the cause and above all by the undetectable craving for technical excellence. To hundreds of those who got the short end of the stick in sports and never had any hope or good luck, these fine men remained unforgettable.
Another distinctive feature was their conspicuous aversion to public gaze and notice. The shunned press publicity and never bargained for travels abroad via the sport they served. Around these superlative men were a broad section of technocrats whose service and advice was greatly appreciated. In fact, the men at the helm looked upon the technocrats as the key to achieving excellence in the sport.
In fact, Technical Committees were created and a regular dialogue was maintained, in addition to many technically qualified men serving in the respective Technical Committees of the various national governing bodies. Very often one could see these administrators around the fields of practice , assiduously watching the training. They almost became a part of the training camps. They also promoted the sport in the outstation through a network of smaller affiliates and visited these areas on a regular basis. Many presidents of governing bodies held their quarterly meeting in the outstations, thus taking the message with them directly and effectively. In short their love and labour to the sport was not confined to Colombo alone, or to basking in the glory of a tamasha or the fanfare of a cup final.
Regular invitations to foreign national teams or first class outfits to play on our grounds, our athletics compete in our own tracks with our foreign neighbours were a common feature each year. Neither our sportsmen nor the public was starved to such international fare. Yet sports tours and competition both at home and abroad were successfully completed sans grants, sponsors or state assistance. Such was their relentless commitment to the promotion of sports.
But what of today? The deterioration of sports commenced with the old order yielding to the new. New traits of some of those who are called to guide the destinies of our sports have further darken the picture, causing immeasurable harm to the sport. Today the spectre of a putrid sports climate is right before our eyes.
Except in cricket, the rest of our team sports are nowhere near Asian Standards. We are in fact, at the bottom of the barrel, scratching and groping in the dark. The only ray of brightness has come our way – and that too so irregularly in some individual performance. For instance the achievements of Duncan White, Nagalingam, A.S.M. Khan, S.L.B. Rosa, M.J.M. Lafir, Nandasena Perera, Wimaladasa and still recently Susanthika Jayasinghe, Sugath Thilakaratna, Damayanthi Dharsha and Sriyani Kulawansa have been purely individual, and do not reflect as results of organised planning and direction of the respective controlling bodies. The blame must lie squarely on those who control sports today.Evidence clearly indicates that top officials in most of our national bodies are men without an inkling of technical knowledge or competence. Lawyers, doctors, engineers, politicians, business tycoons and other professional men who are sadly ignorant of the sport they serve have virtually ruined our sports standards. Wittingly or otherwise they have damaged the base and all that others have so tirelessly built over the years. We could have held back the tears if we had a dearth of men with both vision and technical competence. But it is not so. This country has the stuff with all the experience and technical competence to catapult us into the Asian limelight or even to the Olympic fore, if only they are chosen and called upon to deliver the goods. But alas, all successive governing bodies have failed to cry halt to this crime and many are those who join the bandwagon seeking new pastures for their kith and kin , personal benefits , personal riches and publicity – all in the name of the sport – the game’s the thing.
It is vitally necessary if we are to reach Asian standards to lay strict guidelines for our Controlling Bodies. In this regard, I hasten to suggest two prerequisites which, in my view , would eventually (a) Catapult us to Asian Standards soon (b) Automatically leave out those who have been unproductive.
The Sports Ministry should call on all, national governing bodies say, in January each year, to submit a technical Programme giving in detail their annual proposals for achieving technical excellence in their respect disciplines. This programme should also contain the steps the Controlling Body hopes to take in respective of promoting the sport in the schools and in the outstations. Secondly, the Ministry should call upon the national bodies to conduct annually, a minimum of two “Home Internationals” (an International in this instance means a fixture between two National teams) before they think of participating in competitions abroad. If for some reason or other, a national body cannot organise two “Home International” fixtures then, I am sure it is time for them to pack up and go. In fact, they become Associations merely on paper, isn’t it? On the other hand, our performance at the “Home International” will clearly indicate our performance standards, and what better guidance for our participation in foreign tournaments? If we cannot perform adequately well on home soil, how on earth could we perform even remotely well on foreign soil? Most of national bodies gear themselves for participation in foreign tournaments, for therein lies the road to Utopia!
A cursory glance will reveal that not a single of our national controlling bodies have, in the past five years or even longer conducted annually, even a single “Home International”. It is incumbent on these bodies to periodically provide our fans with first class or international fare. The truth is, the bigwigs shun exposing our national playing standards for fear of revealing their fallacies. However, a heavily publicised new craze that of being elected for various Asian Bodies has recently cropped up in our sport scenario fanning the egos of those concerned, while in fact, the sport they serve is virtually nailed to the coffin. The recently conducted Commonwealth Games in Scotland is a good example. It was a sad spectacle indeed, and a most unfortunate one at that. If we are to reach at least the standards of the days gone by, let us have a decisive scheme that will automatically give the boot to the pretentious, officials, coaches, and participants who fail to produce satisfactory results for us to be on par with at least with our Asian neighbours.
I conclude with a quote, by the Hon. Minister of Sports Mahindananda Aluthgamage made to the media recently: “officials, coaches and participants stop going on sport tours as pilgrimage without disgracing and humiliating our country at international competitions”
His Excellence the President Mahinda Rajapaksa this is over to you!