Awarding of Sports Diplomas National Sports Science Institute

The Minister of Provincial Councils Local Government and Sports Hon Faiszer Musthapha stated that the attitude of the coaches and trainers was key to developing sports in the village. He stated this at the ceremony organized by the Institute of sports science to Award Diplomas to sports officials who had followed the training program. The program was held at the Duncan White Auditorium at the Sports Ministry today 29th June 2018.

The Minister addressed those present “Today there is a big connection between sports and technology. Therefore the National institute of Sports needs to travel in a totally new direction. In the past we participated in sports to develop our brotherhood and ties. However today athletics and sports is a profession.

Thus today sportsmen compete to win. All sportsmen do not like to fail. Because of the mindset big money is spent by athletes all over the world. There is a large section of people whose livelihood has become sports.

In our country cricket professionals earn large sums of money compared to professionals in other fields. There is a big difference in the finances between the Board of control for cricket and other sports associations. When looking at the way sports is moving in the world the time has come to develop coaches. This has to come from the grass roots. You are there to bring about this change. Our coaches have obtained NVQ 4, 5, 6 levels today. Thus we can achieve professional standards in sport. We have to keep pace with the rest of the world. With sports education we can achieve this change.

We are sad that only Duncan White and Susanthika Jayasinghe were able to achieve success at the Olympics. There is a large gap. The population in Australia is the same as of Sri Lanka. But Australia has achieved much more than Sri Lanka. Today village kids are more talented than city kids. They lack opportunity. We are committed to give them this opportunity. If we do not take this to the village the strength and talents of the village children will be lost to us.

We have to be proud of the achievements of our children at the recent South Asian Junior Athletics Games. They were able to win with little facilities. There is a big difference between the facilities our children have and those of other countries. Even so in the case of nutrition. Without closing this gap we cannot go forward. We should all get together to achieve this goal.

When compared with other fields sports is divided. Every day sports associations come to my office divided amongst themselves. They have no other work. Just like small children. Some use sports associations to go forward in their society. Others are holding office in Sports Associations for various reasons. We know the Auditor General’s report. There is a need to clean sports. We need your strength. Work with the mindset that the country should win. If our country cannot win in sports it cannot be considered as a progressive country. In other countries the mentality of the population is developed through sports. We need your commitment to build up our young blood.

Most people of our country work only for a salary. To bring about a change it is necessary to love the country. We should love sports. They should love the athletes. We all know that petitions are written against the coaches and management. When selecting if one’s child is dropped the parents send petitions. We have to stop all other work and look into these complaints. The mentality of some parents are unfortunate they want to somehow or other send their children forward.

This ministry has the most number of inquiries.

Our job has become one of inquiring into petitions. I make one request from you that is think of the Country first. If we want this country to go forward think of the country rather than one’s self. We can achieve this change and make the country win.”

Around 300 participants of local and foreign training in Sports Management received the Diplomas. This is the first time this award ceremony is taking place.

This program is aimed at eliminating all the barriers facing coaches in the field of sports. Mr G L Sajith Jayalal Director said that In the future A Degree awarding program will be conducted by the Institute of sports science and discussions are being held by local and foreign universities.

Mr S D D A Borelessas Acting Secretary. Additional Secretary Mrs S.H.A.N.D Abeyratne Mr G L Sajith Jayalal Director National Sports Science Institute and Ministry Officials were present.