A total of 18,000 athletes from 800 schools will be in action at the 90th Sir John Tarbat Schools Junior and Senior Athletic Championships to be worked off shortly but organisers said the number is much less than the number that took part three years ago.
The Junior Sir John Tarbat Junior Championship will be conducted under four age groups – Under-12, 13, 14 and 15. The Senior Sir John Tarbat Athletic meet will be held from September 13 to 16 at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium, Diyagama and feature competitors in the Under-16, 18 and 20 age categories.
The Junior Championship will be conducted at regional level and the winners will meet in the finals to be held in Colombo on a date to be announced later.
The first Regional Meet will be held in Anuradhapura on August 30 and 31 and the second Regional Meet will be held in Embilipitiya on September 22 and 23.
The third Regional Meet will be held on September 29, 30 and on October 1 at Bandaragama.
These announcements were made at a media briefing held at the Taj Samudra Hotel on Tuesday (23) with Ritzbury Chocolate of CBL Foods coming in to sponsor the events for the tenth year. They stressed that their aim is to uplift the standards of sports in Sri Lanka while supporting budding athletes.
“Athletes who have participated at the Sir John Tarbat Schools championships were seen making vast improvements to become the nation’s brightest prospects of the future.
“The main contributory factor to this is the support extended by Ritzbury who go out of their way to fund talented athletes who are determined to succeed,” said Dr. Kusal Fernando president of the Sri Lanka Schools Athletic Association (SLSAA).
The John Tarbat meet is considered to be one of the most looked forward to events in the country where track and field events are concerned.
“This championship has such an excellent track record in fostering Sri Lanka’s best sporting talents. It is noteworthy to mention that our ten year long association with this prestigious championship has been able to uplift standards while supporting many budding athletes. Going beyond normal sponsorship we have been extending our support for high performers at this event on a long term development initiative. For this purpose, identifying and supporting talent is pivotal,” said Nilupul de Silva, General Manager Marketing of CBL Foods International.
Upul Amaratunga the deputy director of sports from the Ministry of Education said that the Ministry will do everything to support talented athletes enhance their standards and that they will entice sponsors who will provide them financial assistance and training for future development.