Minister Roshan Ranasinghe – a man on a mission
Roshan Ranasingha, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister
COLOMBO, March 14, 2023 - Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Roshan Ranasinghe seems to be a man on a mission. No doubt, it was at the backdrop of some uncertainty that he took over the reins when the country was at crossroads.
But the 47-year-old veteran politician has put aside all his personal gains and is currently working towards a common goal of putting this sports-crazy little island nation in the world sporting map.One of his visions to develop the sport in the country in coordination with the Ministry of Education has already produced the desired results as all Provincial Council Governors are associated in this ground-breaking development programme.In fact, Minister Ranasinghe is a firm believer that sports could reach new heights in the country as they move forward jointly, with all the Education Ministry activities.The other significant fact is that Minister Ranasinghe was quite simple and honest in consulting some of the former Sports Ministers’ who were able to provide the necessary inputs to fulfil his task to the maximum.It is no secret that the ideal place to develop sports is at school level and giving more time for the students to follow their extra-curricular activities at the end of the day is a great boost.It is already planned out to have an extra two to three hours of sports activities for the students after 1.30 p.m. so that the school sports bodies and their respective sports bodies could work hand in hand towards their ultimate goal of achieving success.However, it has been revealed that only five percent of students take up sports at school level in Sri Lanka but nearly 75 percent of students take up sports activities in countries like England and Australia and in other top European Nations.There is a much higher participation in Colombo and in the suburbs, but the figures are less in the rural areas. The lack of technical knowledge is the prime reason for this setback.Another vision of the Sports Minister is to introduce sports as a subject for the GCE Advanced Level Examination in order to provide more priority for those schoolboy athletes.Minister Ranasinghe has also stressed the importance of introducing national sports pools at divisional, district and provincial level to provide all those talented athletes to focus on national and international tournaments.The Sports Minister has also taken steps to extend his development programme to the universities as well with the establishment of sports faculties throughout the island with the backing from the Ministry of Higher Education.This is one of the key areas in developing sports in the country where all those talented rural athletes would come into recognition with the formation of the unique talent search programme.Minister Ranasinghe also believes that the National Sports Council (NSC) could lead the way in fulfilling their objectives with the support of the three armed force commanders, who are all members of the NSC.Minister Ranasinghe’s vision to appoint selection committees to the respective national sports bodies through a way of advertising in the print media, should be commendable as the idea is to create more transparency in appointing these officials of high calibre.But we haven’t seen any genuine reading material, or a booklet based on sports technical knowledge. The Ministry of Sports, which was established way back in 1967 are yet to put out a publication in connection to this theme.The Ministry of Education of course, have published a couple of handbooks as instructor guidelines for teachers on a few selected sports. But they haven’t put out any publication related to sports technical knowledge.At a sports summit held in 1995 in Sri Lanka, there was a proposal to publish a sports magazine on physical fitness, but sadly, so far it has not materialised. The Minister should also take steps to initiate a programme on sports diplomacy to build up a healthy relationship between all other sporting nations. It is believed that the Minister has already started on this mission as it could make a huge change in the development of the sport. The Minister should also look into the possibilities of getting a few foreign coaches for selected sports, which has the potential of winning medals at international events.Sri Lanka won two Silver Medals in 1948 and 2000 Olympics, five Gold, seven Silver and two Bronze Medals from the Empire Games/Commonwealth Games and during the period of 1938-1994 they won 10 Gold, three Silver and eight Bronze Medals from the Asian Games.The main reason for this success is due to the availability of some good foreign coaches in the country. But this situation has now disappeared from the Sri Lankan sports scene.The Sri Lankan coaches, with limited knowledge, have trained the sportsmen and sportswomen to reach South Asian standards and they really need the services of foreign coaches to move into the next level.
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