The Sri Lanka School Athletics Association has slammed the Athletics Association (AA) and its President Palitha Fernando saying they don’t have a clear vision to develop and protect budding athletes into international standards which came under the microscope with the poor performance at the recently concluded Asian Games.
“We, through the school association has produced a number of talented athletes, international medal winners and national champions, but the Athletics Association did not have a clear procedure to take care and develop these athletes to the next level which is the reason for the downfall of national athletics in Sri Lanka,” said Susantha Fernando, former secretary and current advisor of the school athletics association as well as the president of school coaches association.
Fernando, the coach of Walala A Rathnayake Central College which has produced the most number of all Island winners in the school athletics arena also refuted Athletics Chief Palitha Fernando’s claim on school coaches being the reason for the current situation of national athletics.
“He (Palitha Fernando) has been there as the president of Athletics Association for nine years now from 2004 (except 2012). But standards of national athletics has gone down rapidly throughout these years while school athletics standards has improved,” said Susantha Fernando.
“We have produced Asian junior winners, youth Asian winners, world junior participants, national champions and in the last All Island game a school girl from Jaffna equalled the Sri Lanka record in Pole vault. But as a National body, they haven’t done anything to safeguard these budding athletes,” added Fernando.
As Fernando claimed the national body hasn’t conducted any coach training programs or athlete training programs throughout these years for schools and there was no program to distribute the latest technical know-how among athletes or school coaches which are essential to compete with the modern world.
“If we take junior athletics level in India and Sri Lanka, we are much better. Our juniors have performed way better than them even on Indian soil but when we compare the level of seniors it’s the other way around. The Athletics Association should be responsible for that. We have the talent but they have failed to convert that talent into international winners,” said Fernando.
“If we take hurdler Supun Randeniya, he has been the best junior athlete produced by the school junior circuit after Sugath Thilakarathne. But, the Athletics Association failed to do anything to safeguard his future or support him to continue and develop his career after leaving school,” said Fernando.
Randeniya’s coach and Treasurer of Athletics Association Lakshman Hapuarachchi who was also present at the occasion claimed Randeniya had to find a scholarship on his own and leave the country at last to USA where he is currently training and studying since nobody has helped him to train after leaving school.
As they said, since the Athletics Association has done nothing the School Association has taken the responsibility to train coaches and athletes where they have conducted several coach training programme nationwide.
Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, had suggested a system for school coaches that they will be granted Rs 1 million if they could produce a national winner or junior international medal winner for the country while athletes will be given to the nationals coaches afterwards to train and develop beyond the capabilities of school coaches.
“We as school coaches are very happy with the suggestion of the Minister. But, we have a problem as to which national coach are they going to give the athletes and what is the procedure of selection for national coach for the particular athlete. Also it’s been two years since the Minister has suggested this. Yet the Athletics Association hasn’t done anything to make it work,” said Susantha Fernando.
