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| Sunday, 10 April 2005 |
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Dilan Perera's recipe for ethnic harmony.... : Peace through volleyball by Ranjan Anandappa In a bid to resuscitate volleyball from the present sad state of affairs, the newly elected President of the Sri Lanka Volleyball Federation - Deputy Minister of Ports and Aviation Dilan Perera will commence his tenure with a development plan by organising a National Volleyball Convention. This convention was held on April 9th and 10th at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute with the participation of all lovers of the sport, officials, players, referees, both past and present, technical participants, foreign participants and the media. "We will be inviting the past presidents and the secretaries who are alive and we hope to felicitate them. Some may have failed and some may have been successful in their endeavours to improve volleyball, but I hope to begin the convention by giving them due recognition", said the Minister. The Minister also said that he is hoping to cover differences between ethnic groups and instill peace through volleyball which is the national game of Sri Lanka. "Volleyball was introduced in Sri Lanka in 1916 and the sport is played over 220 countries worldwide and is a popular sport at the Olympics, but in Sri Lanka, the game sadly has lacked direction, popularity and public and governmental support," said the president of the Federation. "There was an option between elle and volleyball when the question arose as to which sport should be the national sport of Sri Lanka when a committee headed by Prof. Vinnie Vitharana sat in 1990. Volleyball was selected for many reasons because it needed a small area to play, and could be played indoors as well and it has proved to be popular among the common man." The main purpose of the convention is to promote, plan and implement a master plan to develop and popularise the sport at all levels in Sri Lanka to bring the sport of international repute on par with other international sports and thereafter sustain that growth on the international arena. The minister is also keen in promoting the game in the north and in the estates as there is tremendous enthusiasm among them. By winning at international level it will create a lot interest for many more people to take up the game. He also hopes to popularise beach volleyball which is under his purview so that it will also be a boost to tourism. |
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