Ill-timed National Sports Festival was a waste of time and money

By Reemus Fernando  

Despite the pomp and pageantry associated with the top national competition and the state patronage it receives the National Sports Festival continues to mirror the lack of forward thinking by the organizers, the Sports Ministry. The Athletics Championship which takes the pride of place of the Multi-Sports event is generally conducted as the final event and this time too there was no exception. But the scheduling of the event was so ill-timed that it produced lackluster performances as most of the coaches rested their top athletes ahead of a crucial international event.

The Sports Ministry of the central government and Provincial Sports Ministries spend lavishly for the top national event and this time Sri Lanka Athletics had intervened to obtain World Athletics ‘E’ grade ranking for the event, meaning the results of this championship would help athletes improve their rankings. That was the right move as it adds real value to the money spent on the public purse. But top athletes had to skip the event in preparation for the Asian Games which commences on September 23.

Veteran runner Gayanthika Abeyratne, sprinter Nadeesha Ramanayake and long jumper Sarangi Silva were the only Asian Games hopefuls to take part in the three-day event. Incidentally, the coaches of these athletes are associated with the ministry in one way or another. More than half of the Asian Games track and field team were representing Sri Lanka at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest when the Athletics Championship of the National Sports Festival was being conducted at the Sugathadasa Stadium.

No organizer with an iota of knowledge on sports would conduct a major national event to coincide with a global event if the country’s top athletes were scheduled to take part in the latter. Would the sports minister encourage his subordinates to conduct a local cricket tournament involving national cricketers to coincide with the Cricket World Cup? There was a time when knowledgeable officials of the Sports Ministry persuaded the Minister, who gives the green light for the premier event, to schedule it at the right time. It doesn’t seem to be the case now a days.

Sri Lanka Athletics, which generally publishes its event calendar before the start of the year recently rescheduled a national event so that the athletes could benefit from it. Sports events are there for the benefit of the sportsmen and women. Coaches and officials planning to achieve the best results for their athletes prepare their training plans with an eye on the competition calendar. But Sri Lanka’s athletes remain in the dark with regard to the date of the country’s premier sports event conducted by the Sports Ministry. The scheduling of the National Sports Festival should be done in collaboration with the respective Sports Associations so the money invested in the premier event will not be in vain.