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Sri Lanka Army

Defender of the Nation

28th September 2016 20:30:45 Hours

Commander Spells out His Vision for Promotion of Army Sports & Athletics

Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva, Commander of the Army with the objective of appreciating and stimulating the sports skills of members of all Army Athletic and Sports Committees, Army sportsmen and women and coaches met them on Tuesday (27) at the Panagoda Army Gymnasium.

The arrangement, organized by the Directorate of Army Sports had brought down a gathering of about 2000 personnel, attracting skilled sports personnel of all formations across the country, including those who made the Army proud in the most recent ‘Paralympics-2016’  in Rio, Brazil.

The occasion also turned more dignified as the names of achievers in the ‘Paralympic-2016’ and their coaches were called out to accept cash gifts of Rs 50,000, Rs 40,000 and Rs 25,000 respectively as symbols of the Army’s appreciation and recognition. Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva, Commander of the Army, Major General Channa Goonetilleke, Commandant, Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force and Chairman, Army Disable Sports Committee, Major General Renaka Udawatte, Director General Finance Management and Chairman, Army Judo Committee handed those appreciative incentives amid applause.

After a comprehensive speech that spoke of the importance of sports and how it relates to one’s life, the Commander of the Army, Lieutenant General Crishanthe De Silva, the pioneer behind the notion of collecting them under one roof, underlined the challenges that are lying in the field of sports in this decade and beyond.

“Feasibility studies and preliminary work to begin a state-of-the-art ‘Sports Village’ (Kreeda Gama) inside the Panagoda Army Cantonment, are now underway, and this will mark a new turning point in the field of Army sports since all could assemble together for sustained in-house training and practical sessions throughout the year inside this intended ‘village’ as the Army’s future prospects in sports, would definitely shine further. The Army invests more and more in sports. We need to look at the sports arena afresh, ” the Commander commented.

He also instructed Army sports authorities to map out a scheme, through which the coaching skills of retiring Army veterans in sports, could be mustered by appointing them as coaches upon their retirement. This will enable budding sports personnel to have better exposures since they were their own colleagues or workmates, the Commander said.

Major General Amal Karunasekara, Chairman, Sri Lanka Army Athletic Committee, Major General P.M.R Bandara, Director General Sports, Brigadier G.J.A.W Galagamage, Director Sports and other Senior Officers participated in the programme that openly felicitated budding Army personnel, engaged in sports.