Rs. 40 m Next Champ scholarship program launched

From left: NOC Sri Lanka-Crysbro Next Champ Selection Committee Member Shehan Ambepitiya, D.M.T.D. Karunarathne (Athlete – 400 m and 800 m), OLY Chairperson and NOC Sri Lanka-Crysbro Next Champ Selection Committee Member Susanthika Jayasinghe, H.H.R.S. Jayasundara (Athlete – 200 m and 400 m), W.D.K. Kumara (Weightlifter), R.L.S.R. Laksarani (Weightlifter), NOC Sri Lanka Women’s Committee Chairperson Niloo Jayatilake and NOC Sri Lanka-Crysbro Next Champ Selection Committee Member Ineka Cooray Wickremesinghe

• NOCSL ties-up with Crysbro to produce medal winning athletes of the future 

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq 

The time has come to have many athletes continuously performing and winning medals, said National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL) President Suresh Subramaniam, and with this in mind the NOCSL-Crysbro Next Champ scholarship program was launched at the Sri Lanka Foundation on Thursday.

The objective of this partnership is to uplift talented young Sri Lankan athletes to the international sports arena.

Under the agreement Crysbro will sponsor 20 deserving athletes scouted by the NOCSL and help mould them to qualify for the Youth Olympic Games 2022, Asian Games 2022, Commonwealth Games 2022 and South Asian Games 2021.

In addition this partnership will see the launch an online portal for the very first time in Sri Lanka that will enable members of the public to financially sponsor rural athletes, school sports associations and sports clubs and chambers.

NOC Sri Lanka-Crysbro Next Champ Selection Committee Member Shehan Ambepitiya said that Crysbro Next Champ will not only recognise and reward young sporting talent from all corners of the country but also build athletes from multiple sporting disciplines with the guidance from experts on aspects such as proper training methods and suitable diet. 

Each of the athletes he said would be sponsored for Rs. 1 million a year by Crysbro for two years. 

The scholarship will cover costs such as nutrition, transportation, coaching fees, accommodation, logistics such as clothing, sports gear and medical expenses etc.  

“We have selected five budding athletes and the remaining five we will select towards the end of the month to make it a total of 10. The remaining 10 slots we have left open to motivate athletes to perform well in the competitions held over the next three months. We will select them on their performances at these contests,” said Ambepitiya.

The five selected athletes are: 16-year-old D.M.T.D. Karunaratne (Athlete – 400 m and 800 m), 16-year-old H.H.R. Sithum Jayasundara (Athlete – 200 m and 400 m), 14-year-old W.D.K. Kumara (Weightlifter), R.L.S.R. Laksarani (Weightlifter) and 11-year-old Milka Gihani de Silva (gymnastic) who is training in Japan.   

Sri Lanka’s Olympic medal winner and NOC Sri Lanka-Crysbro Next Champ Selection Committee Member Chairperson Susanthika Jayasinghe praised the NOCSL for joining hands with Crysbro in the multimillion rupee sponsorship and said that it has been too long that Sri Lanka’s medal larder has been empty and it could only be achieved with a quantum change in the approach like the one that has been launched. 

Crysbro Senior Marketing Manager Amoris Sellar said: “We launched Next Champ in 2018 and we had a simple objective we wanted to identify talented athletes mainly giving priority to the rural sector because they deserve it. We wanted to showcase them and bring them into the limelight and give them an opportunity to shine and become the next champ.

“We were looking at how we would take it to the next level where we nurture the selected athletes to become champs fortunately for us we were identified by the NOCSL. After a few discussions we realised that we shared the common objectives and common goals and here we are today ready to take this project forward.”

NOCSL Secretary-General Maxwell de Silva said: “We must be proud that we have a corporate Sri Lankan company like Crysbro coming forward to sponsor a program of this nature especially when the entire world is going through difficult times. A company coming forward and sponsoring is a great thing. It is a shining example to other companies in Sri Lanka to follow.”

De Silva further stated that the NOCSL has started an English speaking course for the rural athletes who in future will not have to shy away from the microphone whenever they win a medal for the country.

NOC President Suresh Subramaniam said that the national federations have given them the mandate to achieve this and that it was no easy task.

“I have a hard working fabulous committee trying to find ways and means to take the sport forward. Under my presidency I can assure you there won’t be favouritism. We have only one goal to achieve and it is the proper way. My committee has given that mandate and we have been doing very successfully,” he said. 

“The last three years I have had the fortune of having MAS Holdings, Hirdaramani, Harinma Holding, Metropolitan, Akbar Brothers few of the sponsors who have come forward and like Crysbro they have been very silently helping us,” Subramaniam said.

From left: Crysbro PR Manager Nalin Aluthge, Crysbro Senior Marketing Manager Amoris Sellar, National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka Secretary General Maxwell de Silva, NOC SL President Suresh Subramaniam, Next Champ Director – High Performance and Selection Committee Chairperson Susanthika Jayasinghe