National Olympic Academy (NOA) with the participation of South Asian Regional National Olympic Committees was conducted by the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOC Sri Lanka) and stepped into its 15th milestone. Also created another version of the programme as well. The NOA Programme was held at the National Holiday Resort in Bandarawela, from November 30 to December 3, 2016 and hit a great success by the enthusiastic participation of 46 local participants, represented University of Kelaniya, University of Jaffna, University of Peradeniya, University of Moratuwa, University of Uva Wellassa, University of Rajarata, University of Ruhuna, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Eastern University of Sri Lanka, South Eastern University of Sri Lanka, University of Sri Jayawardenapura, Athletic Association of Sri Lanka, Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka, Amateur Rowing Association of Sri Lanka, National Shooting Sports Federation, Sri Lanka Judo Association, Football Federation of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Volleyball Federation, National Association of Fencing and Sri Lanka Modern Pentathlon Federation and nine regional youth participants from Bangladesh, Maldives and Pakistan.
The Academic programme was designed under the main theme of “Excellence, Friendship and Respect and an ideological redirection in field of sport” and the sub theme of “Ideological Significance in Olympic Value Educations”. Mr. B.L.H. Perera, the Director of the programme delivered a lecture based on the theme and Mr. Prithi Perera talked about “Olympic Values as a Sustainable Sport Legacy”. This time, a guest lecturer was invited from Slovenia Mr. Damjan Pinter, Consultant of Olympic Solidarity delivered on “The economics of the Olympics, marketing of the Olympics and the Olympic Games as a brand and Olympic Values”. One of the sessions was covered by the Sri Lanka Anti-Doping Agency on “Pragmatic and ethical value of prohibiting performance-enhancing drug by Olympic Movement”. Mr. Joseph Kenny delivered on Table Etiquette. Finally, the participants were split into groups and discussed on the sub topics. Also, a ‘Session Report’ was submitted to Mr. Nishanthe Piyasena, Asst. Secretary of the NOC Sri Lanka at the Closing Ceremony.
The NOC Sri Lanka President, Mr. Hemasiri Fernando who initiated the NOA in 2001 in Sri Lanka mentioned “NOA has created awareness of the core values of Olympism, particularly among youths in the country for more than a decade. I believe that their right mindset would be a vital encouragement to the long-term drive of the present government to find the potential Olympic medalists throughout the country.”
Everyday started with early morning exercise and this time, Tai Chi was introduced. As it was new to all, the participants were very keen and participated very enthusiastically.
Yasitha Sakmal Kariyawsam, The President of Sports Council, University of Moratuwa said in his extended note that “NOA was another great platform to the Young participants and especially, I shared and debated ideas, learnt, laughed and, at the end of the session went back home as a better person! I loved my stay in this great Academy session at Bandarewela. It gave us opportunity to meet great people from other countries in South Asia region as well as undergraduates from other universities and sports associations who actively involved in sports. The organisation and management of this Academy session is really grand and very helpful – Ideal for nurturing the spirit of Olympism.”
Yasitha continued about the contents of the program that “we got opportunity to learn about Olympism, Olympic values, Sports Marketing, business etiquette and also anti-doping. Before attending this academy session I did not have clear idea about those areas. Blending of sport with education and cultural expression was the foundation of this Olympic Values Education Programme. Through this NOA session we got an idea about how to overcome social problems through Olympic values such as excellence, friendship and respect. At the end of the day we got a feeling that, we should do something to overcome those social problems using the knowledge that we got from this Academy session and share the knowledge about Olympic values”.
“In this academy session we were encouraged to experience the responsibilities of good citizenship and values-based learning and we got opportunity to expose ourselves. Through this academy session we learnt about the benefit of sport and physical activity through an understanding of Olympism and its impact on individual health, enjoyment, and social interaction” mentioned further as his learning outcome throughout the program.
One of the participants from Pakistan, Ms. Aelia Mehdi said that “The Program blended and united different cultures. I am keen on sharing the enormous amount of knowledge that I’ve gained and the experience I had. I would personally like to instill these norms in all the people around me as well because sport education is a subject that people do not take seriously. It is very important for everyone to know the Olympic values.”
During the group discussions, the importance of the Olympic Values – Excellence, Friendship and Respect were discussed under various titles and many of the reports concluded that Olympic Education should be taught from the grassroots level and sports exchange and media awareness programs were suggested to create a better one.
“The training session organised by the NOC Sri Lanka was absolutely a great experience for all the upcoming players who have participated in. I am very glad to be as one of the participants and the NOA Program bridged us with the foreign participants and taught us many lessons. I would say that this kind of Program will definitely uplift the sport quality of a nation” worded Ms. Hiru Maheshi, represented National Shooting Sports Federation.
On the final day morning, the participants were taken for a field trip to Demodara Nine Arch Bridge and railway station as an NOA Excursion to “Discover, Learn and Admire” the beauty of the nation. Also they enjoyed in hiking from the bottom towards the Bridge.
“Through this program I could learn the concept of Olympism and how this spirit can help oneself and to others too. Sport is a combination of physical, mental and spiritual well-being – A Lesson” added Mr. Wajahat Ali – Pakistan participant.
At the end, an attractive closing ceremony was led by the NOA participants and performed various acts by them so as to reflect the theme of “Culture, Diversity and Unity”.
“It was a great experience to me as a participant. I do really appreciate them to organise such an even to uplift the knowledge of young participants as well as the unity among diverse communities and mostly it was a great opportunity to learn about Olympism and Olympic values during this session. Also I could be able to understand the practical aspects of Olympic values and its importance in order to make a change in ourselves as well as in our society. This session gave us an opportunity to interact with each other and contribute our own ideas to the betterment of the society” said Amodya Perera from University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
SiGoSport 