The chief instructor of the recently launched ‘Kids Athletic’ programme of the Sri Lanka Athletic Association said that the aim of the IAAF backed event was to promote athletics among kids and to safeguard them against haphazard training.

The Athletic Association launched the Kids Athletic programme in May and conducted a workshop that involved over 30 coaches. Prasanna Perera, the former Galle District coach, was the lecturer at the programme.

Perera said that many athletes who showed themselves as promising future prospects at their young ages, had finally given up athletics in their late teenage as a result of unwarranted training done by the result oriented coaches in their early teenage.

"Athletics was the most popular sport among the youth some 20 years ago. Now it has dropped its popularity among the youth. The IAAF who is concerned about this has identified heavy training schedules applied by coaches world over and lack of excitement in events which don’t last long, as major reasons among many as to why the youth is to abandon this sport at later stages of their teen years," said Perera in an interview with ‘The Island’.

Perera said that it takes years for a junior athlete to understand the discipline that he is capable of performing his best. After identifying the ideal discipline, it might take years for him to produce his best. "In some disciplines, an athlete might come to his peak when he is 23 years of age and in some events it might take a decade or more."

"Most of the junior coaches here are result oriented. And to get the maximum out of their athletes, they burden their junior athletes with heavy training schedules. This leads to athletes getting bored and tired and even giving up athletics for some other sport even before he identifies the potential discipline that he is for. There is also the danger of contracting injuries."

Asked what schedules and programmes the IAAF has identified for kids, he said that the world governing body has introduced a system to methodically develop children’s physical strengths to be future athletes.

"The IAAF has shaped the kids athletic programme to suit different age categories from five-year-olds. In our programme, we educate the coaches and introduce to them the training schedules and activities ideal for kids," explained Perera.

According to Perera, Kids Athletic programme includes different activities for kids that varies from usual athletic disciplines.

Perera also said that the children who are taking part in competitive events below the 15 age category, are hazardous to them. He said that the Sri Lanka Athletic Association is going to request the Ministry of Sports and the Education Ministry to stop conducting competitive tournaments and meets involving children below the age of 15.

"There are competitions involving even 11-year-olds. And it could be hazardous to kids in the long run. Result oriented coaches tend to force heavy training schedules on kids in this atmosphere. It is very dangerous. It has been identified that a kid between the age of 5-7 should be training for just 45 minutes a week. And a kid in the age of 9-11 too, one hour sessions a week. I wonder whether many who are coaching kids are aware of these. Our aim is to save the kids and preserve them to be future athletes by conducting these programmes," explained Perera.

Perera said that the workshop and the sample competition for kids involving the students of President’s College, Rajagiriya, was held a month ago and that was a huge success. In fact, the Athletic Association is planning to hold a couple of such programmes in the near future.