SLB kick off skill scouting programme from Ambalangoda
At the launch of the programme -- (from left) Saman Wijesinghe (Secretary SLSBA), Buddika de Silva (Secretary SPBA), Pradeep welagedara (Former National coach and Shuttle Time Trainer), Roshan Gunawardana (Vice President SLB), Mohan Wijesinghe (Secretary SLB), Iresh de Silva (Shuttle Time Coordinator ) and Mohamed Gazzaly (IT Instructor) explaining facts to the journalists
Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) has initiated a series of training programmes, mainly focusing the schools from suburbs from all districts, to introduce badminton at grassroot level. The initiative, a brainchild of the current SLB administration, will be conducted with its Provincial and District Badminton Development Committee (PDBDC) and run under the tagline of ‘Badminton – from the rural to country’, or ‘gamin ratata badminton’.
“As any other sport in this country, badminton too has its development programmes. But this series is totally different to what we usually follow, because through this, we do not only plan to catch potential players very young, but also give the opportunity to the teachers to learn about the game and become instructors,” Mohan Wijesinghe, the Secretary of SLB stated.
The development programme was a preplanned activity, which was forced to put off at different stages due to various reasons — from the Easter Sunday attack to the recently held Presidential Election. But SLB and PDBDC are eager to kick-start the programme whenever they are capable and as a result the first of the series shuttled yesterday at the Indoor Stadium of Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda and will end today.
“The ‘gamin ratata badminton’ is being conducted in Sri Lanka under the International Shuttle Time Badminton Programme mooted by BWF and implemented by Badminton Asia, the governing body of the sport in the Asian Region. The idea is to take the sport to the hinterland of each country and make it a popular mass sport,” said Roshan Gunawardana, the Vice President of SLB.
From the Galle District itself, 54 selected schools will benefit through this stage of the programme which is mainly aimed at supplying the basic knowledge of the sport and providing equipment to schools to propagate and promote Badminton in the Provinces of Sri Lanka. SLB, through its PDBDC, will provide adequate training to teachers who will then pass on their knowledge to the young players of their respective schools.
“As part of this initiative, each school will receive six rackets, three shuttle tubes, one net and two posts in order to set up a court within their school premises, so that budding young students can start training. All participating teachers and children will be presented certificates at the end of the event. The SLB’s PDBDC will monitor the progress and organise competitions to motivate and recognise these schools,” Gunawardana added.
Following the kick-off event in Ambalangoda, SLB had made plans to take the programme to every district in the island and produce a whole new generation of badminton players in Sri Lanka. SLB President Rohan de Silva who said that he greatly welcomes this initiative that is spearheaded by a past president and current Vice President, Roshan Gunawardena.
“The future of badminton is firmly embedded in the programme, and our intention through this runs with a long term plan” SLB President Rohan de Silva stated.
The programme expects to reach districts in the northern and eastern regions as it plans to give more importance to schools beyond the city limit, where easy accessibility is a luxury.
“If you take Galle for instance, badminton is played at schools in the city and other areas where there is easy accessibility available. Our focus through this programme, is to give the opportunity to schools that are in the inner part from the main city. That will be one of our ways of creating eligibility for schools to take part in this programme,” Gunawardana added.
The selected athletes will be given the opportunity of competing in a selection tournament and from there the players who remain and reach the next level, will be handed over to the Sri Lanka Schools Badminton Association to help them reach the next level and realise the dreams of winning at regional and international badminton tournaments.
“This programme has to remain how it is run today in time to come too. From there we can easily know who has all the skills and potential and we can easily invest on them and show them the correct path to reach the world stage.” Gunawardana said.