| Sports |
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| Takeover
ghosts haunt Shalika again The grounds in the years gone by and presently it caters to the needs of the poor sports organizations in conducting their sports activities. G. Viswanathan the secretary of the sports council of the SLTB and his officials briefing the media said that the powerful politician on the advice an of official from the SLTB who is behind this conspiracy has informed that they are going to take over the grounds for which no reason has been given. He further said that the ground was built on a land gifted to the SLTB in 1965 by the then minister of sports the late V.A. Sugathadasa. If the ground is taken it will befall the same fate that happened to the Nomads Sports Club grounds or the muncipal grounds in Town Hall. Today after that take over the ground is not made use for any activities rather than having carnivals or musical shows. We will not allow that to happen to our Shalika grounds, we have not taken a single cent from the coffers of the SLTB to modernise or maintain the grounds or the building around it. The ground was put up by the hard earned money of the employees of the SLTB which number around 30,000 who contributed two days pay from their salary. The sports council members in general said that when the present government members were in the opposition when the former government was on the verge of taking over Shalika they said we are there with you don't give up but today the persons who told will support us at that time are trying to do the same. Every two years we conduct our sports festival in this ground and there are so many schools, clubs and many sports organizations which conduct their sports activities here be it a sports meet, cricket match, volleyball, basketball then there are people from the Anderson Flats which has about 800 houses who come for their excercises and enjoy the evening which they have been doing for over three decades. All these will be denied. There were officials from many associations with views in support of the sports council members. Renuka Abeywardena Yapa was a former member of the Sri Lanka women's volleyball team who is now holding a responsible post in the volleyball association said that this cannot be allowed to to be done as this is the only ground with many facilities and our players have had the benefit of training in this grounds for the last so many years. She said it’s a crime to grab something that belongs to the people who cannot afford to pay lump sums to practice. Malik Zahir
the vice president of the Sri Lanka Hockey Federation and the secretary
of the Colombo Hockey Association said that to improve the standard
of hockey we had the backing from the officials of the Shalika grounds
sports council. This year when our women’s lockey team were
scheduled to participate in the Asian Cup tournament we had difficulty
in accommodating the girls and giving them the needed practice.
He was shocked when he heard that the Shalika grounds is going to be taken over. This injustice should be stopped he concluded. Viswanathan further said that the persons who were aiming at the Shalika grounds promised to meet them for a discussion but upto now nobody has turned up. They have been only giving appointment dates that they will come to the SLTB headquarters at Narahenpita, the last date given was on February 26 2003 but so far no one has come as promised. We are ready to talk with them and there so many grounds in the Colombo East why can’t the interested people concerned develop these and take instead of trying to take a poor man’s belongings. If things go to the worse the members intend going on an islandwide strike and fight for their grounds. They say there are so many burning issues to be solved why do they want to deny sportmen of their valuable grounds. Not only the employees of the SLTB benefit from the grounds even the poor schools within the area come over here for their sports activities Viswanathan concluded. Top
volleys from wheel chairs To participate in this sport a person must have a medically diagnosed, permanent physical disability, which results in the substantial or total loss of function in one or both lower extremities. Wheelchair tennis is thus open to millions of persons, and offers participants huge physical, psychological and social benefits. The rules of wheelchair tennis can take advantage of existing tennis infrastructure, equipment and rules, and this has doubtless been another contributing factor to the sport's explosive growth over the past 25 years. Today wheelchair tennis is by far the fastest growing wheelchair sport. Both the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the United States Tennis Association have incorporated wheelchair tennis into their respective programmes. Over seventy major wheelchair tournament take place annually in Europe, Latin America, North America and Asia. In Sri Lanka, Wheelchair Tennis was started in 1976 and caught on rapidly and then died a natural death due to lack of commitment. In 2002 March, when the new committee took over office the President Suresh Subramanium and the Vice President Gen C.J. Ranaweera took the initiative to revamp the sport and as a result a new sub committee was formed in SLTA for wheelchair tennis with Maj Gen C.J. Ranaweera as its chairman and Lt Col Chrys de Silva as the Secretary. With the blessings of the Army Commander a workshop was organised to introduce the game among the casualties who sacrificed their limbs for a united Sri Lanka. As a result Mark Bullock, Wheelchair Tennis Development Officer of the ITF was invited to Sri Lanka and he conducted a workshop for 100 soldiers who were from different parts of the country at the SLTA courts. A pool of 30 players was selected to represent the country but due to constrains in equipment and funds were able to accommodate 12 players only. Despite lack of funds the Sri Lanka were able to send a four member team with a manager to participate for the first time at the Thai Open NEC Wheelchair Tennis Championship held from September 7 to 10 in Pattaya City. Due to the commitment and physical fitness of the players Sri Lanka were able to sweep all the trophies in the D division. Impressed with the performance by the Lankan players, the Ambassador in Thailand Mr Hewa S. Palihakkara promised to help by sending a coach to uplift the standard of the Lankan players. As promised the Sri Lankan community in Thailand sponsored Mr Moo to come to Sri Lanka and train the wheelchair tennis players. The Thailand coach and his assistant arrived in Sri Lanka on March 3, 2003. The SLTA is providing the facilities for the coaching programme that is currently on progress. Grichawatt Kaewprangk who is fondly known as Mr Moo has a bachelor's degree in physical education. He has also conducted coaching camps in Japan, Malaysia and New Zealand. Mr Moo is currently training the Lankan soldiers who no doubt is sure to bring further fame in the Japanese, Australian and Thai Open tournaments where they are scheduled to participate this year. He is also training a few SLTA coaches which will enable them to continue training the local players in the future. The SLTA is looking for sponsors and individual donors for support and to promote participating in wheelchair tennis. Anyone wishing to contribute or wishes to know more about wheelchair tennis may contact Lt Col Chrys de Silva, Secretary, Wheelchair Tennis or the CEO of the SLTA. Fox
Hill Supercross 2003 The event will provide the riders and drivers an opportunity to display their skills with twenty one events scheduled to be held on that day. The spectators will also have their monies worth as this is the only track where a race could be observed from any position of the track. To make this event a grand one the organisers are looking forward to generous sponsors or co-sponsors. In addition they are offering (eight in total) corners of the track and the twenty one events for sponsorship. (MSA) Seminar
on Sports Medicine Clothing, shoes
and equipment for training. Exercise for diabetes etc. Those desirous of taking part in this seminar could contact Dr. Nimal Gunaratne - 421354 or 0717-35512. Maj. Gen.(Dr.) C. Thurairajah internationally famed expert on Sports Medicine, will be one of the lecturers. -BW |
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