Who should run school’s rugby?
View(s):
The Minister of Sports last week revealed that he has instructed the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) to take charge of the Under-20 Schools League Rugby Championship from next season. This he said is mainly with intentions of putting a halt to amateurish conduct of the Schools Rugby section, which gave verdicts that still remain as an open debate after the school rugby season. The decision by the sports minister has opened a can of worms where many are of the view that it is not a wise call while others call it a timely decision. Read and find out if these opinions fit your’s.
Dilroy Fernando
(Former SLRFU official and referee)
“This is not practical. School competitions should be governed and run by relevant school associations. We have seen such incidents in the past but they have been proved as failures. The national governing bodies coming in to the schools will not help any problem solve. But if these two parties could get together and work for a good plan, it could be a successful exercise. One or two problems may come and go but just because of that totally changing the responsibility is not a suitable answer. For example for Olympics, the National Olympic Committee of a country plays a main role, not the Ministry of Sports. Likewise the Ministry of Education should be fully in charge of school sports activities, not the Ministry of Sports. I think the Sports Ministry should be directly working with national bodies and that will be sufficient.
Sunil Jayaweera
(Special Consultant in Sports)
“Individually each person has the right to express his or her thoughts and ideas. The intention of letting the Schools Under-20 Rugby League Tournament governed by the SLRFU is the idea of the sports minister. It is a known fact that the Ministry of Education is in charge of the schools’ sports activities in Sri Lanka. The Minister of Education or the Ministry of Education are of not that view. The education minister has the final say when it comes to decision making at school level sports, not the sports minister. In the early 1980s the school rugby association was a branch of the SLRFU, and it was Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe as the then Minister of Education who took the initiative to form the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association and the former Trinity principal, Leonard Ratnayake was its founder president. As the sports minister indicates, even if the SLRFU conducts a tournament and therein if something happens, as some months ago, they will not have the authority to take action against those schools. These are responsibilities of the schools governing bodies and education ministry. Most in the rugby circle are of the view that this is not a good thought.”
Denzil Darling
(Secretary – SLSRFA)
“I happen to meet the Minister of Sports and some top SLRFU officials few days back and this was a sudden topic that came up during that meeting. We all had a healthy discussion on this matter and it was decided that the SLRFU, SLSRFA and Minister of Sports should meet for an official sitting to take a vital decision on this matter. My view is that school sports should be governed by school bodies, not the parent bodies. If this happens it will be an act against the regulations of the Ministry of Education. Not all think this is a good thing, only a few favour this move. I think the parent bodies and the schools sections should not work opposing, if these two parties could work in cohesion, I think it, itself will be the most suitable thing for all these problems.”
Sanath Martis (Rugby coach)
“As a coach, my view is if the tournament is well conducted, no matter who does it, there is no problem. There are no places you could find perfect, everyone has their plusses and minuses. Rugby in Sri Lanka is over 100 years now but where are we globally and regionally. Japan is the top rugby-playing nation in Asia at the moment. Hong Kong and Korea may swap the second and third places every now and then and as a result Sri Lanka is always in the fourth or fifth in the Asian rankings. I was part of the SLRFU Rugby Development Programme, but nothing was sustainable and eventually no development has taken place.
Funds received from the global and regional bodies were drafted to other purposes as far as I remember. Some years ago cricketers came only from leading schools from Colombo and Kandy but today it’s the other way around and most players to reach the international stage are from the outstations, which means the game has spread. But in rugby, good players are still coming out from the leading schools, not the lesser-known ones. While cricket spreads around the country rugby is still stagnating. So whoever conducts a tournament, will not make any different.”
B.A. Abeyratne
(President – SLSRFA and Principal Royal College)
“It’s a wrong impression. The Ministry of Education should be fully in charge of schools sports activities. Decisions and theories from other parties are not relevant for school sports other than schools’ sports bodies and the education ministry. This can be termed as an unwarranted attempt to get into the activities of Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Sports is responsible for whatever that is at the national level and likewise schools sports come under the Ministry of Education. I think this is just a publicity stunt.”
S.F. Rajapakshe
(Rugby enthusiast)
“There will be no problem if everyone works according to the rules and regulations of the IRB. The management and development of sports is a responsibility of the country’s government, so whatever the decisions taken by the Ministry of Sports or Ministry of Education, represents the government. According to international rules, even the spectators come under the laws of the IRB. But in Sri Lanka, the law is not adhered anywhere or anytime. There are many misconducts and acts where disciplinary action are not taken, at times overlooked or many times taken. If a player is thrown out from one school due to disciplinary reasons, he will appear for another school the following year. According to the international regulations this is totally wrong. When a verdict is given, it stays with the player until such time, no matter where he moves. For this state, the principals and coaches should be held responsible and in some schools the coaches are more powerful than the school authorities. This is a bad state that has gone beyond control and if everyone can keep that the game and its global body is the highest authority, that’s what must be reminded.”
Lasitha Gunaratne
(Vice President – SLRFU)
“In the recent past, when the schools association could not hold any tournaments due to a court ruling, the SLRFU conducted the schools league tournament without any problem. If tournaments are conducted according to the regulations of the international body, there will be no problem. But in the recent past, up to now, the schools section has never sought permission from the SLRFU to conduct any of their tournaments. Even when you take the recent verdicts given after certain incidents took place during the schools league tournament, they were taken by certain officials by the Ministry of Education, not a disciplinary committee of the schools section. Usually a disciplinary committee consist of 16 members and even if one member is absent a verdict cannot be made. So what had happened here is a total mistake, not through a proper protocol. And even the bans handed, by this set of officials are served by those schools during the off season, which is a joke. Most of these players who are featured in the tournaments of the schools section do not meet the age group recommendations as given by the IRB. Most players are underage when it takes the senior age categories, whereas IRB restricts junior players from competing at senior level, since this is a full-contact sport.”
K.S. Peiris
(Retired officer, Sports Development)
“Sports, at any level, should be governed by the national bodies. The national bodies has legal authority of the relevant sport. According to the Sports Act of the country, two officials from the schools bodies have places in the national bodies, this makes schools bodies an affiliate of the national bodies. According to the country’s constitution sports activities come under the Ministry of Sports. Sometime ago schools bodies prevented its athletes from taking part at national events creating age category disputes and this hampered the development of sports in general. Money plays a major factor in all these activities. The main role of the Ministry of Education is the development of physical education. All schools sports events should be held under the supervision of their respective national bodies and with the collaboration of the Ministry of Education. Then there will be no problem at all.”