Jill Cooper’s Sports Development Project-Sri Lanka.

In September 2018, having taken a sabbatical from my role as a Sports Lecturer, I set off for Sri Lanka to undertake volunteer sports development projects.

It was when I arrived in the rural community of Manapaha Village-Kurunegala, that I was captivated.

Aside from my own delivery, I was hungry to learn, from undertaking observations in three local schools (one pre-school, one primary and one secondary), observing school life, the curriculum, lesson delivery and resources-My initial goal being to identify the need.

I spoke to head teachers, teachers themselves, the pupils and spent time with families in the local community.

I went on to meet the district sports development officers in order to gain a more in-depth perspective of the barriers facing participation in sport in the community-predominantly economic, with 20% of the Sri Lankan population affected by health-related diseases.

I learned that the children in the primary school didn’t partake in structured physical education, with limited resources (6 badminton racquets, 2 shuttlecocks, 3 flat balls, 2 assault course ladders and a cricket set for 136 children to be precise).

In the secondary school sports resource cupboard, I was confronted with several unusable balls, athletics equipment, two tape measures and a cricket set for 843 pupils. The pre-school had no resources for basic physical activity excluding a climbing frame.

So my question to you. Sport-what does it achieve?

Fundamental essential skills; confidence, communication, team work and leadership; resulting in healthy lifestyles, working hand-in-hand to enhance student engagement within the learning environment.

The goal:

Three schools: one pre-school (60 children), one primary school (136 children) and one secondary school (843 children). Total=1000+ children more active by fundraising for resources, aiding the delivery of more structured sport and physical activity sessions.

Resources to include: Basketballs, volleyballs, footballs, rugby balls, netballs, dodgeballs, table tennis kits, tennis kits, hockey kits, badminton kits, cricket kits, rounders kits, frisbees, obstacle course resources (including skipping ropes, hoops, tunnels, bean bags, sacks, target practice games and parachutes), cones, bibs, whistles and stopwatches.

The Pre-School (4-5 years): Manapaha Senehasa

The Primary School (6-10 years): Manapaha

The Secondary School (6-18 years): Kumbukwewa Maha Vidyalaya

The charity itself: The Manapaha Foundation-A project dedicated to supporting a rural community in Kurunegala focusing specifically on education, environmental and social issues. Please visit the charities website for more information: www.manapahafoundation.org.uk. Facebook page link: https://m.facebook.com/manapaha/

As it’s not a U.K. charity, I have to fundraise through Crowdfunding.

See my pictures attached below which I have taken while working on the project so far, with descriptions included.

Sport is the key to social change, helping to bring not only communities, but nations together.

Please share this page and donate anything you can.

Lastly, I want to thank you for taking your time to read this snippet of the journey and to all those supportive, inspiring people leading up to and along the beginning of it-you know who you are.

Jill x

If you have any connections to sports equipment suppliers/brands please contact me directly on my work email: jill.cooper@rutc.ac.uk

The Primary School

The secondary school

The Pre School

The community-Many of the childrens family members work as farmers.

Myself and the district sports development officers: