A hurdle that needs to be cleared

While memories of the South Asian Federation Games and the Asian Games are still fresh in our minds it is time to reflect whether we had been adequately equipped and technically perfect to play fair by the hundreds of sportsmen and sportswomen who came forward to show their skills.

In many countries sports is a subject of deep study and research to assist those who desire to excel in this field and those who wish to pursue an active lifestyle. In China, university students have to follow a prescribed number of units in Sports Science throughout their University careers. There are Sports Universities in many of the main Chinese cities, the Shanghai Sports University being one such. There are many other countries besides China where Sports Universities have existed for a long time and have been contributing to improve the quality of their sportsmen and women.

It was in the backdrop of such developments worldwide, that a project was put forward by the University of Kelaniya in 1989--even whilst being in the grip of near anarchy caused by the University youth uprising--for a degree course in Sports Science and Physical Education.

This proposal was tied up with a plan for a fully equipped indoor stadium and playing arena and a swimming pool complex for which even land was ear-marked. The University Grants Commission approved the degree course and gave an initial allocation of four cadre positions of two senior lecturers and two assistant lecturers to start the programme with the proviso to increase the cadre as the Faculty grew.

Even though the University of Kelaniya was the first to win approval for a degree course in Sports Science and Physical Education, it has not made use of the opportunity up to date to make its contribution to the development of sports and physical education as envisaged in the original proposal.

The advancements made in the world of Sports Science has made it mandatory that we think of a full-fledged National University of Sports Science than a department of study in an existing university.

A Sports University would require a two tiered staff component as different from the traditional universities. While the academic teaching staff would be responsible for the theoretical input, the training staff, who would be similar in status and remuneration, etc., would be responsible for the application of the academic input to the practical training of the students.

If questions and misgivings arise now if the subject of a Sports University is raised, my request to those pessimists is to go back to 1959 and study how the two Pirivenas, Vidyodaya and Vidyalankara, that were given University status evolved into becoming two powerful national universities. It was quite common those days for graduates from the two new universities to be scoffed at during interviews simply because they came from the two Pirivena Universities. Sometimes candidates were mocked and asked whether they could chant “pirith” when they told the Interview Board they were from one of the two new universities.

The inadequacy of suitably qualified staff to run a Sports University can easily be overcome by making use of the technical and theoretical expertise of suitable local and foreign personnel to train the initial few batches of students, the best of whom would, after appropriate post-first degree qualifications, themselves be qualified to take over the areas of study, research and fuctioning, of the Sports University.

When fully functional, a Sports University would turn out to be a unique launching pad for talent and skills development of a new area of human activity. While the G.C.E. A/Levels should be the basis for admission to the Spots University, acceptable qualifications in the relevant sports areas could be considered for allocation of the academic and training areas.

A well-established Sports University could also attract students from the region and thus be a foreign exchange earner for the country. With the reputation that we have earned in certain areas of sports this would not be mere fanciful thinking.