Youth athletes asked to find funds to represent Sri Lanka

by Reemus Fernando

Athletes selected for the forthcoming Asian Youth Athletics Championships have been requested to find funds for their traveling and other expenses as the Ministry of Sports has halted funding teams for foreign tours.

The athletes and their schools have been informed to find funds amounting to rupees 650,000.00 per person for their travel, sources close to athletes told The Island.

“At this current situation, we are unable to provide funds for the air tickets from Colombo to Tashkent and back to Colombo. The air ticket cost will be approximately Rs. 650,000.00 per person. Appreciate, if you could kindly make suitable arrangements to provide funds and permission to participate,” Palitha Jayatilake, the Acting Secretary General of Sri Lanka Athletics has requested in a letter addressed to school principals of the respective athletes.

According to sources Sri Lanka Athletics has received the support of a benefactor to cover a segment of the funds needed for athletes to participate in this championship which will be held from April 20 to 23 in Uzbekistan.

Sri Lanka Athletics picked a team of five athletes including two who won medals at the last edition held in Kuwait.

It is the first time that the country’s athletics governing body had requested athletes to find their own expenses to represent the country as the Sports Ministry has stopped providing funds.

When contacted on this regard a senior official of the sports body said that Sri Lanka Athletics was doing its best to find funds and had requested respective schools to provide necessary funds as a precautionary measure.

The current economic situation has forced many to give up sports as the costs of sports equipment, shoes, spikes and other accessories have skyrocketed during the last one and half years. This is apart from the high costs they have to bear on nutritional needs and traveling. Sri Lanka Athletics too has increased entry fees for events conducted by them.

Although the Sports Ministry has continued to provide funds for athletes in the senior category in elite sports pools, many up-and-coming youth athletes are on the verge of giving up sports due to a lack of financial support and the absence of a system to nurture budding athletes hailing from underprivileged families.

‘Kreeda Shakthi’, a Sports Ministry programme that provided a monthly allowance for junior athletes at the District level also remains inactive since 2021.

On such a backdrop, the efforts of youth athletes who beat the odds to reach qualifying standards to represent the country should be commended and encouraged and it is incumbent upon sports authorities to provide the necessary support for them to realize their aspirations. It will be these athletes who will one day represent the country at the senior level.

Sri Lanka won five medals at the last edition of the Asian Youth Championships. Wickramabahu National School, Gampola athlete Nirmali Wickramasinghe and Lesandu Arthavidu of D.S. Senanayake College, Colombo who won medals at the last edition are among the five athletes who reached qualifying standards for this year’s edition.