A car for Best Athlete

S.M. Jiffrey ABDEEN - Kandy Sports Corr.

Sports Festival We have witnessed cars being given as awards at cricket matches. This will be extended to the National Sports Festival when for the first time a car will be awarded to the 'Best Athlete' and in addition to this, motor cycles and lap tops will be also awarded to the top performers at the National Sports Festival scheduled to be held in Kandy from September 17th to 19th said the Minister of Sports C.B. Ratnayake.

He made these observations when he addressed the sports officials from the Central Province formally announcing that the National Sports Festival will be held at the Bogambara Stadium in Kandy at an official meeting held held at Royal Hall in Kandy.

Minister Ratnayake said that sportsmen and sportswomen are a dedicated lot and they must be suitably rewarded for their efforts. In most cases they do not have sponsors and they do not have the amenities and they undergo hardships spending their own money.

A case in point is athlete Sugath Tillakaratne from Norton Bridge in the Central Province. He did not even have a playground to practice running and he used the roads. But he rose up to reach international standards.

He said that the solution for all ills is to provide the necessary infrastructure and facilities to sportsmen and initially he has plans to open gymnasiums in all towns and also sports goods shops to make available sports equipment at reasonable and affordable prices.

This will help those engaged in sports and more will then take to sports which will in turn improve the standard of sports locally and at national level before reaching international standards. Grounds should be done up.

Minister Ratnayake said more school children should take to sports without allowing those who are already engaged to go through the process over and over again. He said when they were young studying in the village school, they studied for 8 periods in school and came home and had lunch.

Then from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. they played and practised. Later they refreshed themselves and studied. But now the case is that, immediately after school the parents take them to tuition classes, and then at home too, they make them study till 10 p.m. the young minds are tired and they have nor est or relaxation. This procedure is repeated day in and day out. Children should be allowed to play and breathe fresh air in the open field. They must be taught to face challenges and above all they should be fit and strong. This is the objective of sports.

Minister Ratnayake said that right now cricket is played throughout the year, the senior school cricket matches, followed by the junior cricket tournaments, then we have Test matches, One-day Internationals and the Twenty20 matches. There is a lot of exposure and at the same time, demands are great on the players. Sri Lanka has in excelled cricket. Muthiah Muralitharan has retired from Test cricket with a world record haul of 800 wickets which record may be never broken or will take a very long time to beat. Then Dilshan has invented his own shot called the 'Dilscoop' which only he could play. Captain Kumar Sangakkara now leads the world ratings as a batsman. The Minister said all Sri Lankans proud of these achievements.

The Minister further said that the media has a very responsible role to play by reporting the correct facts. People were pointing their fingers at Sri Lanka Cricket and when he commented on this, he was accused of mixing up the words. Some want to stay and go on and on, but they must make room for others.

Take the case of Muthiah Muralitharan who put a little Sri Lanka on the world map of cricket and left gracefully. He made people tell "Don't go Murali" before they asked him "When are you going Murali"?"

He said that now anyone can get one's degree in sports at the University of Sabaragamuwa and this will be extended to the Universities in Peradeniya and Colombo.

The Chief Minister of the Central province Sarath Ekanayake said that the Central Province will be proud to host the National Sports Festival and the main venue the Bogambara Stadium is now closed for repairs.

There will be a 8-lane grass track. They will do their best to make this national event a great success. He has got a team who will be dedicated to their tasks.

The Chief Minister said that already steps have been taken to improve sports from grass root level. Already a sports complex is coming up at Digana which will be the biggest in the Central Province.