Relay Carnival in Jaffna

After successfully restarting the All Island Schools Relay Carnival last year in Kandy, this year’s edition will be held in the Northern Capital Jaffna, which is set to host the second biggest sporting event in their history.

Nestle Lanka Ltd. has come forward to sponsor the event through their Milo Brand.

The championship will be held throughout three days from 10 September at Duraiappah Stadium, which has turned out to be a fast track despite it being grass, and there were several Sri Lanka records established during last year’s National Sports Festival at the venue.

According to Sunil Hettiarachchi, Secretary of the Education Ministry, the event will be held in Jaffna with an eye towards the much needed reconciliation after the 30 year war in the area, where Jaffna has started thriving on sports once again.

The event will see more than 5,000 participants; the largest number of participants for a sporting event in Jaffna, which both Nestle Lanka and the Education Ministry believe will give a big boost for sports in Jaffna.

There will be five age groups in the championship. They will compete in the 4X100m, 4X200m, 4x400m, 4x800m and medley relays, while the under-12 athletes will compete in the 4X50 m relays. Apart from the regular championship, there will also be a special championship this year, where the mixed school with the highest score will be recognized.

“Earlier there were Asian Games Gold medalists who hailed from Jaffna and we should develop northern sports to that level once again,” said Sunil Jayaweera, Special Consultant to the Minister of Education Akila Viraj Kariyawasam.

Speaking at the occasion, Jayaweera said the Education Ministry was paying less attention to sports

was the real reason behind Sri Lanka’s drop in sports standards, where responsibility of searching and grooming athletes has been neglected for long.

Jayaweera assured under the new Education Ministry they have formulated a four year plan to groom budding talent throughout the country, and this relay carnival is one such event.