How did we fare in 2016
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The year 2016 can be recalled as a year which Sri Lanka did not achieve much internationally in a global sense. The first event was the South Asian Games in India. Sri Lanka fielded a contingent of 484 athletes in 23 sports events. But we managed to win only 25 gold medals. This is one of the biggest setbacks in the history of Sri Lankan sports. However, the Minister of Sports Dayasiri Jayasekera described this performance as a huge achievement second only to the Indian team. We won the World Carrom Men’s Team Championship and we scored a 3-nill victory over Australia in a home series for the first time.Apart from this we managed to secure only a couple of runner-up positions. We fielded 10 athletes for the Rio Olympic Games. None of these athletes were able to move beyond the first round. But the tour turned out to be a historic event as the athletes were accompanied by a large number of officials. Sports Yardstick today focus on how Sri Lanka fared in cricket, swimming and athletics in 2016.
Julian Bolling
(First Gold Medallist South Asian Federation Games, Kathmandu, 1984 and
National Level Swimming Coach)
Although we won medals at the South Asian Games (SAG) in India and at the South Asian Swimming Championships (SASC) in Colombo, our overall performances this year was not really satisfying. The reason is because our medals were based on the individual brilliance of Matthew Abeysinghe, Kimiko Raheem and a couple of other top swimmers. Apart from this, we did not see any significant performances from the Sri Lankan swimmers in an Asian level championship. The reason behind this setback is the internal crisis within the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Association. Sri Lanka was able to win medals at the SAG and at the SASC not due to the efforts of the officials but mainly due to the commitment of the swimmers and coaches.
The National Body does not have a proper plan. Their preparations begin just two or three months ahead of any major tournament. We cannot win international medals with this kind of preparations. We also cannot develop this sport with this kind of attitude. The officials of the National Body and the Sports Ministry have failed to put up a long term plan. Sri Lanka won 12 Gold Medals, 16 Silver Medals and 11 Bronze Medals at the last SAG held in India. Out of the 12 gold medals, Abeysinghe won seven Gold Medals while Raheem won five Gold Medals. Sri Lanka fielded 21 swimmers for the SAG. This is a clear indication that we have won gold medals mainly through the performances of two swimmers. This also shows that there is hardly any improvement in the sport. But we have plenty of talented swimmers in the country. As a result we cannot say that Sri Lanka had a successful year in swimming. But overall as a country we won 25 Gold Medals, 57 Silver Medals and 89 Bronze Medals at the SAG. Out of this the swimmers were able to bag 12 Gold Medals, 16 Silver Medals and 11 Bronze Medals. Some might think the figures indicate an encouraging sign for swimming in Sri Lanka. However, this may not give the clear picture of the real situation as the Sri Lankan contingent included 484 competitors.
The Ministry of Education and the Sports Ministry has now launched a talent search to identify promising Under-13 swimmers in the country. This is a very good thing. The Sri Lanka Schools Swimming Association is also planning to organise nine Province Meets. This will be a good chance for Sri Lanka to select few talented swimmers. This talent search programme will also enable to spread the sport across the country. I think only in few sports like cricket, weightlifting, carrom and hockey events that we have made any significant impact in the international arena. We cannot see any progress from the rest of the sports. The Sports Minister is boasting that Sri Lanka were placed second in the overall medals tally after winning 25 Gold Medals from 23 sports events at the SAG in 2016. However, this is not a huge achievement as Sri Lanka won 44 Gold Medals, 34 Silver Medals and 40 Bronze Medals at the 1991 South Asian Federation Games in Colombo while competing in 10 sports events. This is probably the biggest achievement in the history of South Asian Games.
We will achieve nothing with this kind of boasting. We need a high performance plan for future development. I can remember I prepared a high performance plan along with Susanthika Jayasinghe and a former netball player and presented it to the then Sports Minister. But the current Sports Ministry officials are not aware of this document. A nation needs a national plan to move forward in sports. But currently we do not have a national plan while the Sports Minister’s also keep changing their plans each time they come into power. In India the sports in governed by the Indian Sports Authority and they maintain a national plan for many years. They do not change the national plan just because there is a change in the high ranking officials. Their plan is conducted quite smoothly without any interference.
They draw out special plans for the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and World Championships. Sri Lanka also needs to work out a similar national plan. Today we do not have the talented officials to draw out a good plan. The administrative officials in the Sports Ministry also keep on changing. The main goal of the Sports Ministry officials has been on foreign tours. They are keener on the number of officials who would accompany the squad at the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. Sri Lanka’s sports plan is based on foreign tours. Our main target at the Rio Olympic Games was about the officials accompanying the athletes.
Sunil Gunawardena
(Asian Games Gold Medallist 1974 and National Level Athletic Coach)
I think there has been a huge decline in the standard of track and field during the past seven to eight years. We could not recover from this setback even in the year 2016. The main reason for this I believe is because most of the playgrounds in Colombo and in the main cities were exclusively allocated for cricket and rugby football. As a result the athletes in this country lost all their facilities for training. Track and field is one of the most popular sports in the world. 202 countries are competing in this sport. It is true that we have made giant strides in cricket. But there are only a few countries competing in cricket and rugby.
We have won medals in almost every major track and field meet. This includes Olympics, Commonwealth Games, IAAF Meet, Asian Games and South Asian Games. We have won two Olympic Medals through Duncan White and Susanthika Jayasinghe. We have won 10 Gold Medals at Asian Games. In addition athletics have dominated the South Asian Games having won 52 per cent of the medals for Sri Lanka. In fact, Sri Lanka has a proud history in track and field events. It is sad to see athletics coming down to a very low standard. This is not because we are short in talent or potential. They have received a minimum amount of facilities to perform their task. We have only two main tracks for the athletes, the Sugathadasa Stadium and Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium in Diyagama. Both these stadiums are currently under renovation. The Sugathadasa Stadium has been closed down for more than six months. The Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium is also not in a good situation for the athletes. The National level athletes are currently idling at home without a proper venue for their training. This is because most of the playgrounds in Colombo and in the city have been reserved for cricket and rugby football.
The athletes do not get a chance to train at these venues. This is a very disappointing and unfortunate situation in the country. Athletics in Sri Lanka have suffered heavily due to this fact. Overall I see athletics have declined in the schools sector as well. Cricket has taken the main role in this country. The parents are keener to see their children compete in cricket, rugby and swimming in addition to tuition classes. Earlier, there was a huge interest for sport among the schoolboys but today it is completely different. As a result we see their health condition also in a poor status. We also see a large number of people suffering from non-communicable diseases. We have a number of students in the schools that are very talented in sports events. But they are been prevented from participating by their parents. In fact, the parents also should be partially responsible for the declining in sports. The respective top rank officials should also take the responsibility. We will be heading towards more disaster if we continue in this manner. In fact we could not win many medals in international meets in 2016. I see this situation as very sad and pathetic for Sri Lankan sports. We should draw out a future plan in all sports events if we are to perform better in 2017.
Dayasiri Jayasekera
(Minister of Sports)
I can recall 2016 as a year which Sri Lanka enjoyed a great amount of success in the international scene. This year we were able to take some huge steps for the development of sports in this country. We also commenced an Under-13 talent search programme to identify promising sportsmen and sportswomen while targeting the 2024 Olympic Games. This is a huge achievement for the Sports Ministry who conducted this programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. We have also set up a plan to establish a high altitude training centre in Nuwara Eliya. The foundation stone for this project will be laid this month. We have also set up plans to establish a medical biographic centre at the Sports Ministry Medical Unit.
In 2016 we proposed to provide insurance to the national level athletes and in 2017 we will be implementing this programme. The Sports Act was in crisis during the past few years but now we have settled the issue following discussions with the IOC. This is a huge success for the Sports Ministry. We are also planning to hold the NOC elections in 2017. We also managed to hold elections to some of the national sports bodies including cricket in 2016. In addition, some of the programmes which could not be implemented in 2016 will be re-launched in 2017. We will be establishing four new synthetic tracks in Ratnapura, Bogambara, Diyagama and Colombo. We have allocated a sum of Rs. 500 million to renovate the Mahinda Rajapaksa Sports Complex. We have also allocated a sum of Rs. 660 million to renovate the Sugathadasa Stadium. I have done every possible thing in 2016 for the development of sports in this country. We will be hoping to take legal action against the former contractors who took over the task of renovating the Sugathadasa Stadium. The renovation work at the Sugathadasa Stadium is currently halted due to misappropriation in the tender procedure.
I do not have a personal grudge with the national associations. I am trying to solve their problems. No doubt there is a shortage in the number of qualified officials in the sports ministry. We had a lot of setbacks due to this crisis. I am not satisfied with the support I received from the officials of the national associations. I will not allow this to take place continuously. Our main target is the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia and the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. We have already started training with the respective national pools.
Sidath Wettimuny
(Former Sri Lanka opening batsman)
I think cricket in Sri Lanka is heading in the right direction. Our young players are now performing up to expectations. They are only lacking in experience. They will be performing much better once they gain experience in the game. There will be few setbacks in the team when there is a shortage of experienced players in the side. But this situation will disappear once the players mature and play to their potential.
This is something common in every Test playing nation. We have to move forward in the international scene even without the experienced players. They will also reach the senior level once they gain experience in the game. Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis and Kaushal Silva are talented players and once they gain experience the team will look formidable. In 2016 we had to play most of the games with a lot of inexperience players. In addition some players were forced to keep away due to injuries. Now we have a new national coach and I think we can look towards a successful era with this side. This is not a major issue for the Sri Lankan Team.
We have some very good local coaches but they are unable to perform their duties well due to the close association with the players. I think we will do better with a foreign coach rather than having a local coach. All Test playing nations have given priority to recruit foreign coaches. There can be controversial issues when local coaches are responsible in selecting the players. I think former players like Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara are capable of becoming top coaches. Most of the controversies take place due to the attitude of the respective coaches. Teams changing positions in the ranking is a common scene today. A team cannot be put down just because it was placed at a lower position in the rankings for one year. This situation affects every international team. Our school cricket and domestic cricket is at a high standard. We can see talented players coming out every day.
I do not want to comment about the cricket administration. This is because I am not involved in the administration at the moment. I am not pleased with the cricket administration getting involved in politics. I think Sri Lanka has the most number of affiliated clubs compared to some of the other international countries. We have a total of 148 member votes which is the highest for any country. India with a population of 1.2 billion has only 46 member votes in the BCCI. England has only 22 member votes. There are voting powers handed to clubs which are not even involved in the game. But some of the top cricket playing clubs in the country are still without a vote. It is under this background that the Sri Lanka cricket administration is functioning. Overall I did not see any improvement in other sports as well in 2016 and before that. I was also involved with the National Sports Council. There was no master plan to the National Sports Council. This is a sad situation to overall sports in the country.