Sports
An approach to improve school athletes’ present and future performance
by Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam. Ph.D.
Increasing Opportunities for Competition
Athletes in schools and those out-of-school do not currently have enough opportunities to participate in competitions. Scheduling competitions between schools within districts, and between districts for those who are out-of-school, will provide athletes with more opportunities to develop their skills and achieve a higher standard of performance. Factors that may present an obstacle to competitions include: 1) cost of ground preparation; 2) availability of qualified officials to conduct weekly dual athletic/sports meets between schools within the Education Zones; 3) lack of space for a 400m or 200m track in many schools; and 4) tradition requires the expensive practice of awarding certificates and trophies/medals in a formal presentation soon after the competition.
Many students now compete in the Inter-House athletic meets during the first term. Potential future athletes are identified at this time. The first three in an event compete in the Zonal or District meet. The first three from those meets are selected to compete in the Provincial school meet and those who place in the first three move on to compete in the National School Meet. Such an arrangement gives only one chance for an athlete to compete at the next level. The athlete who fails at the Inter-House meet or at any of the next levels has to wait another year to demonstrate his talent.
The National and the Public Schools athletic meets are conducted during the Second and Third Term. In effect a school athlete will at most have only three or four athletic meets a year. In the 1940’s and 1950’s I had only 4 meets per year. Those were: the Inter-House, the Jaffna School Sports Association meet, the Junior National meet, and the Open National meet.
In contrast school athletes in California (USA), then and now, have track meets between schools every week from February to April each year. That is about 12 meets during their track season. During the off-season they engage in conditioning and strengthening activities.
All schools in Sri Lanka have the traditional yearly Inter-House sports meet. Students engage in erecting and decorating sheds for their houses. It is a fun-filled school function where teachers and students interact outside the classroom. It includes the awarding of medals and certificates for winners and a lot of long speeches by dignitaries. Students get the experience oforganising an event and executing it by cooperating with fellow students and teachers.
Such a large-scale event and festive atmosphere is not needed for‘Dual Meets’ between schools. In secondary schools two school teams can compete, the results of the events are recorded, announced, and published. There is no need for speeches, certificates, medals, or trophies. The important thing is for the student to test his skills in competition with others of his age.
A New Approach
It is important for schools in the provinces to prepare Dual/Triangular athletic meet schedules for all schools including 1AB schools in their province at least twoyears in advance. The provinces should also prepare such a sports schedule for schools in other sports within their province. Any sports schedule prepared by the National Associations in sports such as cricket, athletics, or football should be in consultation with the Provincial Departments of Education and the schools. Provincial Departments of Education should ensure that the schedule of travel outside their provinces for sports events by school teams is structured in such a way to ensure that student class attendance is maximised and that classroom learning is not negatively affected.
Advent of Professionalism in sports
Since the time professional sportspersons were permitted to compete in the Olympic Games, athletes of national and international standard have been paid to take part and compete for prize money in their sports. The term “amateur” was dropped from international and national organizations names. The Sri Lanka Amateur Athletic Association, for example, was renamed Sri Lanka Athletics.
Athletes can now also receive sponsorship from shoe, clothing, or equipment manufacturers.
Although athletes in school are not currently permitted to lend their names to sporting goods and apparel manufacturers, the school/team can receive such sponsorship in the form of equipment and uniforms or monetary compensation. Schools also are able to garner funds by allowing businesses to advertise their products or services on the school grounds for a recurrent fee. Such income supplements the meagre allocation for sports from the Ministry of Education.
Athletes over 18 do not earn any income unless they are performing at national level. Many national level athletes in Sri Lanka can join the Sri Lanka Army, Air Force, or Police teams and get paid a monthly stipend of approximately Rs. 30,000. The only requirement is that the athlete regularly trains three to four hours per day and competes for them. The Sri Lanka Athletic Association provides similar monetary grants for selected national level athletes who are not paid by the armed forces. The three organisations depend on government funding for such programs. Some organisations in the business sector also sponsor athletes with varied requirements.
Promotion of Athletics at District Level
To promote District Athletics, it is important for District Athletic Associations to be funded by the government or the private sector. They could sponsor the first two athletes, in each event, who have potential to achieve national standing but do not have any sponsorship or other means of support. Payment of a monthly living allowance for the first two performers in each event in the district, similar to what the Army and Air Force pays the athletes who are enrolled with them, will help the district athlete to continue to develop their skills. This will allow the district level athlete to practice three to four hours a day and also attend job oriented tertiary courses. Such practice will ensure more opportunities for district level athletes to achieve National, South Asian, and Asian level standards. In exceptional cases the athlete may also be able to attain Olympic standards. It will also give opportunities for district level athletic coaches, who should also receive a stipend, to improve their coaching skills. An additional benefit is that the number of athletic officials will increase and they will acquire higher levels of organisational and officiating skills.
Promotion of Athletics at School Level
Since 2017, those who are not successful at the GCE O/L at age 16 and are thus not able to enter Grade 12, are required to continue in the Vocational Technical Program in 1AB schools. That is, a student who fails GCE O/L cannot dropout or be ‘Pushed Out’ at age 16. In effect education is compulsory for all until they are 19 years old. The above requirement was a recommendation made by the 2014 Northern Education System Review (NESR) and was adopted by the Northern Provincial Council. It was also adopted by the National Education Commission as a National Education Policy and accepted by the National Institute of Education (NIE). All athletes can now stay in school until they are 19 and benefit from continuing education while developing their skills in their respective sports. The NIE has prepared an excellent Vocational Technical Education Program for such students enrolled in Grade 12 and 13. Some 1AB schools have already adopted it. Others should do so in the near future. School age sportspersons can now continue their sports activities, even if they fail GCE O/L, and acquire skills to make them more employable.
School sports and athletic competitions are the responsibility of the Assistant Director of Education in the Provincial Department of Education. The Sri Lanka Athletic Association and the National Olympic Committee have no direct responsibility. However, they can provide advice, guidance, and distribute the funding that they receive from their respective international organisations such as the IAAF and International Olympic Committee.
(The writer Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam represented Sri Lanka at the 1952 and 1956 Olympic Games and is the first Sri Lankan to win an Asian Games gold)
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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