Over 25,000 participants at National School Games
The main attraction will be athletics, to be held from October 13 to 17 - File pic
The All-Island School Games 2016 will be held in four stages from September 2 to October 17. The event will be continued on all weekends. This has been decided by the Ministry of Education. Twenty eight sports have been included in the All-Island School Games. Over 25,000 school athletes are expected to be in the fray. Special Consultant of Sports Ministry of Education Sunil Jayaweera who is behind the revival of this event told the Sunday Times, “Though the intensity of the event has been tightened up, we are still trying to budget the event to something between 20 to 25 million.”
This time the games are being held in order to cater to selected regions of the island. The first stage which will be held on September 2, 3 and 4 in Colombo, Gampola, Pilimatalawa and Panadura. The games included in the first stage are: Tennis, Wrestling, Judo, Weightlifting, Taekwondo and Swimming. Over four thousand participants are expected to take part in these events. The second stage will be held on September 9, 10 and 11 embracing 12 sports. They are: Badminton, Kabadi, Elle, Hockey, Boxing, Gymnastics, Karate, Netball, Football, Bodybuilding, Basketball and Cycling.
These events will be held in Colombo, Matara, Kuliyapitiya, Kiribathgoda, Kurunegela, Anuradhapura, Hanwella and Jaffna.Around 8,000 athletes are expected to take part in these events. Eight sports have been included for the third stage which will be held on September 17, 18 and 19. The games which will be featured here are: Throw ball, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Chess, Carrom, Physical Exercises, Softball Cricket and Aerobic Gymnastics. The events will be held in Ehiliyagoda, Mt. Lavinia, Nattandiya, Nugawela, Trincomalee, Badulla and Nawalapitiya. The estimated amount of athletes for this stage is 6,000.
The marathon will be held on September 25 in Galle. This will be a mini-marathon where around 2,000 runners are expected to participate. The main event will be athletic events to be held from October 13 to 17 at the Bogambara Stadium in Kandy. This event was scheduled to be held at the Uyanwatte Stadium in Matara but since the venue was not up to the mark, it was changed to the Bogambara Stadium in Kandy. Over 2000 athletes are expected to take part in athletic events. The opening ceremony will take place on October 13 with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe as the chief guest.
The closing ceremony will be on October 17 with President Maithripala Sirisena as the chief guest. These are the plans for the All-Island School Games Athletics Championships. Over 1000 officials will be present at the games. All best athletes (boys and girls) will receive cash awards amounting to Rs. 20,000 each. The National School Games concept commenced in 1984 when Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe was the Education Minister. The event was held as the National School Games in Colombo and it was staged as the All Island School Games in the outstations. This system changed
in 1994.