Sri Lanka Army that has hitherto produced record scores of world class sportsmen and women to the country is to revitalize the field of sports to be on par with modern technical aspects and emerging new spheres at both local and international levels, so said the Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake during a Press Conference, held Tuesday (21) evening in connection with the forthcoming Army ‘Colours Night - 2013' on Friday (24).
‘Colours Night’, the awarding ceremony that appreciates sports achievements and felicitates Army sportsmen and women who excelled in sports is a mammoth and much-awaited annual feature in the Army. The event that awards laurels to 739 sportsmen and women of the Army, is to be held at BMICH on Friday (24) amidst a distinguished gathering.
“Sri Lanka Army being the producer of the most number of sportsmen to the country’s field of sports has been able to fetch a number of international accolades in various fields but trained under minimum facilities. In view of much-required infrastructure facilities for such training, a full-fledged sports complex at an estimated cost of Rs 1.7 billion is to be a reality at Panagoda where all sportsmen and women are able to undergo extensive training in parallel with most modern technical assistance and guidance,” Lieutenant General Daya Ratnayake told the gathering.
“Parallel to Sports Ministry’s identification of new areas of sports that could win laurels to the country, the Army too is in the process of categorizing and identifying such new areas that could be promoted among Army personnel. As you know, one such area was Wushu in which the Army received international recognition,” the Commander said.
“Training, housing, infrastructure, balanced dieting, mental disposition, etc are prerequisite to better performances and this area is closely monitored by our sports authorities, headed by Director General of Sports in the Army,” the Commander spelt out.
In his brief contribution to the occasion specified the achievements of Army sportsmen and maintained that the Army is keen on selecting more and more youngsters with sports skills from rural areas. “This was how we selected Olympic medalist, Susanthika Jayasinghe, for example. This programme has now been expanded,” he added.
Commenting on the new conceptual approach, ‘Reconciliation through Sports’ introduced by the Sri Lanka Light Infantry (SLLI) in order to collect talented youngsters in sports from different areas in the North and the East, the Commander pointed out that this programme has been proved a big success since more and more Tamil and Muslim youngsters from those areas after taking an enormous interest, have now joined the Army for promotion of their sports skills. ‘They put up separate model structure and other creative products while they were at Panagoda and exhibited their sense of brotherhood and understanding through sports during tournaments, organized by the SLLI. They are now fully confident that they could go up in the sports ladder by joining the Army, which itself is a fillip to the Army sports,’ Lieutenant General Ratnayake commented.
Responding to a query, the Commander assured that more and more cricketers of international standards are being groomed in the Army. ‘For example, Sekkuge Prasanna is now a promising cricketer who would be a sports star soon and another one who has already shown colours is to be further groomed shortly,’ the Commander said.
Friday’s ‘Colours Night’ recognizes extraordinary performances of Army sportsmen in Athletics, Volleyball, Archery, Badminton, Netball, Boxing, Cricket, Elle, Hockey, Judo, Kabbadi, Karate, Motor Sports, Basketball, Body-building, Weight-lifting, Swimming, Rugby, Shooting, Squash, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Handball and Wrestling in the past year.
The event will also witness a group of disable Army personnel carry away Colours and monetary awards for their talents in swimming, wheelchair tennis, athletics, badminton, table tennis, cycling, volley ball, shooting, wheelchair marathon, wheelchair badminton, wheelchair basketball, weight-lifting and body building. In a unique feature, these sportsmen are to receive cash prizes, amounting to a few millions at the BMICH ceremony.
In the year 2013, 14 Gold Medals, 25 Silver Medals and 14 Bronze Medals were won by Army sportsmen and women in different international tournaments and sports events. A total of 298 Army sportsmen and women took part in international events, conferences, meets, tournaments and competitions in the same year.
In addition, Army sportsmen attending other overseas open sports arrangements, with national teams, etc were able to fetch 94 Gold Medals, 93 Silver Medals and 89 Bronze Medals to the country.
Apart from that, Army sportsmen showcased their exceptional skills in various National Championship Tournaments and other provincial level events. During those events, Army sportsmen and women in the year 2013, claimed 226 Gold Medals, 177 Silver Medals and 202 Bronze Medals as per statistics of the Army.
In Friday’s ceremony, 399 Colours, 337 Excellent Colours and 3 Special Excellent Colours are to be awarded.
Major General Janaka Ratnayake, Director General Sports, Brigadier R Rathnasingham, Director Sports, Brigadier Jayantha Jayaweera, Director Media and several other officers were also present during the Press Conference on Tuesday (21) at Sri Lanka Electrical and Mechanical Engineers Headquarters.
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