By Reemus Fernando
Sri Lanka Cricket is set to reward medal winners of the Asian Games with handsome cash awards. As the richest sports body they are in a position to outdo the country’s Sports Ministry and the National Olympic Committee who are yet to react, even a fortnight after the dust settled on the 19th edition of the multi sports event in Hangzhou, China. The track and field team at the Asian Games gave the medal-starved Sri Lankans some rare moments to celebrate. In return there had been a couple of felicitation ceremonies specially in the Central Province to appreciate the double medal winner Tharushi Karunaratne. But medal winning athletes in other disciplines and the coaches who carefully guided these athletes to win accolade are yet to be appreciated.
Rewarding the athletes and their coaches is of paramount importance as the number of junior athletes giving up on sports has increased due to financial difficulties. Unlike many other sports, track and field sports require athletes to train round the year if they are to perform at the highest level. The coaches too work round the year in a bid to groom athletes to reach their personal best performances.
The appreciation they receive will not only boost their morale but will be a huge encouragement for hundreds of other athletes and their coaches to persevere in track and field sports. The medals won at the Hangzhou edition were special as they had come after a long drought. With cricket taking the pride of place after the mid 90s many a budding athlete took up cricket and the number of athletes persevering in track and field after their schooldays were over, decreased drastically.
Today, the country’s track and field owe a great deal of its Asian Games success to the schools structure as junior competitions, namely the Sir John Tarbat Championships, Junior National Championships and the All-Island Schools Games have kept the interest of teenagers in track and field alive. Despite the absence of a proper system to nurture the athletes leaving schools, the coaches at junior level have continued to produce future prospects. Of the dozen athletes who won medals in China two are school athletes (Tharushi and Jayeshi Uththara) and a majority of others have many years ahead to persevere in track and field.
It is incumbent upon authorities to look after these athletes and also to encourage juniors to engage in track and field sports as it has proven beyond doubt its potential to be a medal winning sport at Asian level.