324 sports clubs to take sport to the villages   [March 30 2011]

Minister of Sports, Mahindananda Aluthgamage said 324 sports clubs would be set up at divisional secretariat level to take sports activities to villages under the Sports Ministrys National Policy on promoting sport at grassroots level. He said this attempt would allow the rural children to experience and take part in any sports activity they wish.

Taking heed of the Presidents Mahinda Chinthana visions Sports for All theme, the Ministry of Sports stated that they will thrive to make all Sri Lankan citizens  sportsmen, by developing sports activities in the rural outskirts.  The Ministry of Sports also stated that in order to strengthen Sri Lankan sports and to bring it to a higher standard, the President of each of these Divisional Secretariat level Sports Clubs will be the Divisional Secretary, while the Secretary of the club will be the Sports Officer who will be appointed by the Ministry of Sports and the Treasurer will be a top level Police Officer from that area.

The Ministry of Sports emphasized that sports such as Rugby, Hockey, Tennis, Leather, Cricket that have not become popular in the rural areas will be introduced through these Divisional Sports Clubs. Further, 17 sports such as Athletics, Football and Volleyball that have been identified for the Commonwealth Games will be popularized in the rural areas. The Ministry stated that with the intended state of the art Sports Complexes being completed, there will be a progress in the next 5 years under this project.