It was once said that “we cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.”
The National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL) believes in investing in youth and building them up for the future. The NOSCL has recognized a need for greater commitment to the young athletes of Sri Lanka and has taken strides forward in this area.Just last week, the NOCSL sent two young badminton players to Durham, United Kingdom, on a rare elite training opportunity as part of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games’ (LOCOG) Pre-Games Training Programme.
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| Upuli Weerasinghe (L) and Thilini Hendahewa. |
Upuli Samanthika Weerasinghe, 18 years, and Thilini Promodika Hendahewa, 15 years, were identified as high potential young athletes for this country and hence selected to take part in the training camp. For the next three weeks they will undergo an intensive training programme under the direction of Peter Higman, one of only five Senior National Coaches in England. He specializes in sport specific movement, coaching methodology, and coach education, and will be working intensively with both athletes on the technical and physical sides of their game.
Although Thilini is only 15 years old, she has shown fantastic potential for the future. She is currently in her 8th year of training and recently secured her ranking as the top senior player in the nation. She lists her most memorable sporting moment to date as her participation in the 2011 World Junior Badminton Championship in Taipei, Taiwan where she ranked 59th. She has been recognized as the “Upcoming Player” at both the 2010 and 2011 School Badminton Association Colours Award Ceremonies, and recently championed both the singles and doubles categories of the 2012 Nuwara Eliya Badminton Championship. Her current goals include qualifying to the 2014 Youth Olympic Games. This opportunity provided to her by the NOCSL has surely set her on the right track.
Upuli, at the age of 18, is in the prime time of her career to take part in this prestigious training camp. She has been playing badminton for ten years and is looking ahead to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as her primary goal. As a member of the National Badminton Team, she already has a wealth of international experience under her belt including the Asian Junior Championship, Thomas/Uba Open Championship, South Asian Games, Commonwealth Youth Games, and World Championships. She has successfully medalled in many of these events, with her top achievement being a bronze medal performance at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games in the Isle of Man. A winner at the Sri Lanka School Sports Colours Awards and the Western Province School Games Colours Awards, she is also currently ranked as the number 1 player in the nation in the women’s doubles event.
The National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka takes great pride in these two young athletes. Investing in the youth of our country is imperative in order to achieve lofty goals and the NOCSL is very much looking forward to the continued success they will bring to our country in the future. |
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