Athletics can prosper if correct support and nutrition is provided

Ranjan ANANDAPPA

ATHLETICS: All's not lost for athletics in Sri Lanka, if there is such a thing as an omen when it concerns the future of the sport. There is one man Talavou Alailima who firmly believes that the sport has a good future. The correct support structure, scientific approach to training, and performance nutrition are provided and are in place for our sportsmen, we will be able to compete against the best in the world.

The 39-year-old Shot Putt and Discus Thrower, Sri Lanka record holder Talavou Alailima is a Sports Nutrition and Strength Training Consultant (USA), the Chairman and Founder of both the largest chain of gyms in Sri Lanka, Power World Fitness Centres and Sri Lanka's leading Sports Nutrition brand Edge and heads many subsidiary companies specializing in fitness and exercise, is making a genuine solo attempt to take the image of the country sports beyond the Asian region.

"I believe, there are many Susanthika's in the national side who have been neglected and therefore, they are unable to become Susanthikas. They need the attention and support to forge ahead, said Alailima who had made several futile attempts in the past to get the Sports Ministry and the Associations to grab a hold of this truth, but failed in being able to generate the needed enthusiasm to bring about a change in Athletics, let alone try to implement a sustainable program.

Sri Lanka struggle

Sri Lanka has been struggling and unable to go forward, for a long time. We have been pretty much doing the same thing year after year, expecting that something new and wonderful will come out of it. But if we want a different result, then we need to do something different. In every sports forum I have been a part of, I have been pushing for such change. As I believe we have world-class athletes performing at Asian level, Asian level athletes performing at South Asian levels and South Asian level athletes only performing at national level.

I have pioneered many projects attempting to stimulate high performance in athletics, identify talent and help nurture its full potential, but have not received the support it requires to make the impact it could. As the required support structures are not in place, we are unfortunately unable to produce a team of world-class sportsmen and women, and this is not because we lack talent. The support structures our athletes need are not limited to only providing grounds to run on etc. It also involves investing in providing good quality food daily, implementing scientific training methodologies, and encouraging sponsors to stand with or adopt our champion sportsmen.

Physical limitations

When competing against the best in the world, it becomes quickly evident that in most sports we have physical limitations that are disabilities hindering our ability to successfully compete against them. If we are to rub shoulders with the best, then we need to resolve this difference in our physical attributes. However, no one is willing to or is committed towards resolving this foundational weakness that is our biggest hindrance. Everyone has resolved themselves to the fact that we are genetically too small and can never become as strong as the best in the world to be able to compete, which I disagree, said Alailima.

I don't believe that there is a genetic limitation or any other such issue that is holding us back as a nation. What is required is that a serious effort be made, a good investment of resources allocated, and a thinking that is out of the box to be able to transform ourselves physically to move on to the level. Even investing in foreign coaches becomes meaningless if these physical limitations are not addressed. Most of such coaches that come from the countries that have already achieved world status never had to deal with a problem of resolving the weak physical attributes we have, as they have been blessed with sportsmen that have world class physical structures to work with, said Alailima.

I founded the Association of National Track and Field Athletes (ANTFA) about 9 years ago, with the objective of helping the athletes collectively negotiate as a group for better facilities and support. Damayanthi Darsha was the secretary and champion athletes like Sugath Tillekeratne were members of our national athletes association. We tried to collectively negotiate with the Ministry and association to improve the facilities and the living standards of the athletes and implement meaningful change to our diet and selection criteria. Even though we tried for over two years to bring about change, we did not receive any support. All said that the requests we were making were good, but no one addressed any of our issues. We only negotiate for a little more consideration as athletes, that's all. But they failed us, he said.

A few years later the Former Sports Minister Jeevan Kumaratunga appointed me as a member of the National Sports Council against much criticism, as I was an active sportsman, which I accepted, believing that if I cannot work through ANTFA meaningfully to bring about change then I would try to work from within the system to change the thinking and approach towards the development of Sports. During my time at the National Sport Council (NSC) we were involved in compiling the amendments required in the Sports Law to help development take place in the future, designed a funds distribution software that rationalized why we should give a certain amount of money to one sport and not another, a code of conduct and ethics for all stakeholders of sports to abide by, and a sports national policy for Sri Lanka to help provide direction and be a road map to be guided by. All these documents, after investing hundreds of hours compiling them with contributions made by some of the most respected people, went and got stuck on someone's table and was never gazetted.

Waste of time

After my NSC experience, I realized that it was a waste of time trying to bring about worthwhile change by being a part of the existing system but that a private sector approach might be the way forward. Therefore in 2007, I launched the Edge Grand Prix, providing 2 hours of live telecast at each competition and provided cash prizes for the winners. The Edge Grand Prix was a great success, with all the makings of a concept that would not only change the landscape of Athletics in Sri Lanka, but also set the stage for world class performances. But unfortunately with a sudden economic downturn experienced by the mid of 2007, the support which was promised and which we needed to sustain such a large competition, did not come through. Anticipating that it could easily continue in the future once the economic conditions improved, I suspended the Edge Grand Prix after 4 competitions, said Alailima.

After having strived for the past 10 years to bring about meaningful change in athletics by being a part of the existing structure and failed, I finally decided to implement the suggestions I was proposing to the administration, through a private structure by incorporating Champions Pathway (Pvt) Ltd.

What Champions Pathway does is not to just identify good or talented sportsmen, but exceptional one's. Once we have identified those sportsmen, who when given the correct support will reach world class standards, we put our complete weight behind them.

These sportsmen who are called and branded as a `Lion Warriors' will continue to be trained for skill by their present coach, but we implement a program to development their physical attributes to match the world, closely coordinating and providing all the necessary support to the athlete and coach to move such talent to world-class level. When I shared this concept with General Palitha Fernando, the present President of the Athletic Association, without any reservation he told me that he would not only back the program but would give us whatever support we needed that he can to help. Such is the calibre of administrators we need for our sports to develop stated Alailima.

Nine sportsmen

The program began 6 months ago. We have nine sportsmen which include six track and field athletes, a swimmer, a rower and a badminton player.

Among the athletes are the current 100m national champion Umanga Sanjeeva who has been the top sprinter for the past 5 years. There is also an 18 year old schoolboy who is an outstanding, hurdler, Triple Jumper, and a long jumper.

We identify exceptional talent and invite them to be a part of our sports high performance program. It means we expect a total commitment from the sportsman, whilst we provide them with all the nutrition they need, implement a world-class weight training program based on the need of their sport and their individual weaknesses, help them find sponsors and manage it for them.

This will also provide the correct environment which is conducive for the sportsmen to develop into a world-class sportsmen. We plan to expand this group to 50 within the next 12 months said Alailima.

As administrators of sports, we need to come to terms that even if we can afford the best coaches in the world, from New Zealand for rugby, Cuba for boxing, USA for Swimming or whichever country for that sport, they may improve our skill ,but the final outcome of performance will always depend on the fact that we compete with our physical bodies.

We therefore must set a path to bridge that physical gap which I believe would need to be a home grown solution which recognizes our physical handicaps. Knowledge and the skill will help us participate in the world arena. But as long as we are physically disabled by our limitation for our sport, when compared to our competition, we will not make it in the world arena and our performance would be at best mediocre.