COLOMBO – The journey of Sri Lankan university sports has continued for almost for seven decades, but today it has come to a point where the movement needs amendments and reforms to go further and beyond according to Professor Tilak PD Gamage, the President of the Sri Lanka Universities Sports Association (SLUSA).
Speaking to FISU Student Ambassador Akhila Imantha, Prof Gamage said “Ever since the inter-university sports championships organised in Sri Lanka in the 1950s and the Sri Lanka University Games in 1980, SLUSA has put in immense effort in developing university sports and physical education among the student community, despite facing many difficulties.”
“Currently SLUSA is working with the university grants commission of Sri Lanka to develop a framework in which sports and physical education will be given higher recognition and priority in the university curriculum,” he said. “Hopefully, through this the involvement of students in university sports will increase.”
SLUSA consists of 14 state universities in Sri Lanka for admission into which students compete academically. This is because all educational and related facilities are free of charge for all students in state universities. Therefore, as the selection system is academic, most of the students are not very involved in sports at the time of entering their university years.
“SLUSA is working really hard to get these students back into sports,” Prof Gamage continued. “With the recent introduction of a Sports Science and Management undergraduate programme, there is already a positive trend of professional athlete students enrolling in state universities.”
While maintaining a close relationship with national sports federations, SLUSA held the 13th Sri Lanka University Games earlier this year, an event which is hosted every third year by a single university. There are also other events in the calendar for each university such as inter-faculty freshers’ championships, inter university sports championships, friendly matches and SLUSA awards for athletes.
“SLUSA is also working on amending our structure and developing strategic plans with the aim of winning a medal at the Universiade in the near future,” said the SLUSA President.
Towards this end, SLUSA tries its best to give their students maximum exposure in the international arena, by sending national teams for the World University Championships, Summer Universiades and also the Asian University Sports championships. Nevertheless, Prof Gamage hopes to see an increase in the number of sports that Sri Lankan athletes are represented in, at FISU events. With no demographic considerations, SLUSA selects athletes purely based on merit and performance and not based on any regional quotas or similar compulsions.
“I would like to convey my gratitude to FISU for giving opportunities to university students, not only in elite sport competition but also for other events organised to develop sportsmanship, volunteers and sports journalists,” concluded Prof Gamage. “FISU is really giving opportunities to today stars to become future leaders.”
