'Kreeda Shakthi' to harness talent from rural areas

By Ranjan Anandappa

SPORTS DEVELOPMENT: 'Kreeda Shakthi' - a sports development programme launched by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports with the collaboration of the Sports Development Department and Sports Associations will be given a vigourous twist this year as they set off on a talent searching venture which is bound to harness fresh talent from the rural areas in the Island.

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Jeevan Kumaratunga who presided at a press briefing in connection with the programme at Sports Ministry Auditorium at Bauddhaloka Mawatha, said that it was an idea that conceived last year in accordance with the Mahinda Chinthanaya and hoped to implement it on a larger scale this year to spot the country's talent for the future.

The 'Kreeda Shakthi' programme will be conducted in every district. The selection will be done from the girls and boys with a good physique between the ages 15 to 20 and those who have excelled in a significant meet such as the National School Games, Youth Games and Junior Nationals.

"Due to not having a 'feeder' to most of the national sports squads, the country's sports have suffered immensely. We should go to the rural areas and explore the possibility in fetching young lads and lasses who are interested in sports if we are to make challenges to the sporting world. In most of the schools, the children lack the enthusiasm for sports, some parents too discourage their children in taking part in these extra curricular activities as they are more ambitious in their academic career. In sports, some excel at school, but disappear once they leave," said the minister.

The 2007 "Kreeda Shakthi" will be conducted on a format where the shortcomings will be identified with collective ideas of the respective district coaches and even the media. Special emphasis will be made to district coaches as they will be monitored. They will be rewarded when the coaches produced a promising athlete.

The main concept of this programme is to produce sportsmen and women of international class, something beyond Asian standards. For this, latent talent should be identified between the ages 15 to 20 years and develop their skills with uninterrupted training in camps and also make them participate in competitive competitions.

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has allocated over six million rupees for the associations, and the minister handed over Rs.50,000 to each association as an initial payment.