Lack of funds force rowing coach out
The Amateur Rowing Association of Sri Lanka (ARASL) will conduct its annual Senior National Rowing Championship from November 3 to 5 at the Diyawanna Rowing Centre (DRC), but the national governing body of the most glamorous watersport are facing a setback of a different sort. The ARASL is in a twilight zone raising funds, which in turn has impacted heavily in keeping their Consultant Advisor, Pedro Sanz from Spain on board.
The ARASL had the backing from the Ministry of Sports when it came to funds to pay the salary of the Spanish expert, who in return has done a tremendous workload to uplift the standards of local rowers. Dimuth Gunawardena, the President of ARASL praised the efforts of Pedro Sanz, who had took a firm decision to stand by the rowing fraternity, despite recent economic recessions and other restrictions.
“He is a god-sent character who changed the whole course of rowing in Sri Lanka. First he instilled discipline among all athletes and by now, after nearly a year, he has raised the standards of our athletes to near the international standards. By now Sri Lanka is in a comfortable position to win medals at Asian Championships, thanks to his efforts,” Gunawardena, an oarsman himself, said.
But, the ARASL is presently facing a huge setback in raking funds to pay the salary of their Consultant Advisor, Pedro Sanz, who has not received his monthly pay for a few months. This situation popped up after the Ministry of Sports froze all funding granted to its affiliated sports bodies due to ongoing financial restrains in the country.
“The ARASL is indebted to our former President, Rohan Fernando, who willingly came forward to fund rowing, at all times when we were facing financial difficulties. He’s a keen contributor to rowing, and we cannot thank him enough, as well as Pedro, who voluntarily continued his services despite knowing our situation. We hope this situation could be overcome, so we could reap the benefits of our efforts at international events by winning medals,” he further explained.
ARASL sent two athletes to the World Rowing Championship 2022 held in Czech Republic, mainly funded by the world body, FISA, and the Ministry of Sports providing air tickets. The two athletes impressed by reaching the top 30 in the world, an overwhelming development according to Gunawardena.