Coach too Should Held Responsible for Doping – Damayanthi Darsha
Issues related to doping have risen in Sri Lanka, and is fast spreading among the schools’ sporting community, and sporting bodies are fighting to eradicate this menace from sports. SLADA (Sri Lanka Anti-Doping Agency) signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with ASADA (Australia Sports Anti-Doping Authority) in June 2018 with the aim of improving the anti-doping movement in both countries.
Asian Games Champion and Olympic sprinter, Damayanthi Darsha emphasised on the importance of having a proper system to detect doping related issues and to educate coaches. She holds the following view:
“The blame should fall on the athlete as well as the coach. Many coaches today don’t have the proper knowledge or the qualifications to say what’s right and what’s wrong. We need to have a proper system in place, a system that would educate the coaches. It is very difficult to find good qualified coaches these days. Many of the genuine coaches are retired or too old. We see many of them just doing an online course and claiming to be a coach, but that’s not the way forward. The shortage of coaches needs to be filled by qualified coaches with the talent to train, motivate and discipline the athlete regardless of age. The coach identifies the athlete and s/he should know to protect the athlete.”
Darsha also stressed on the importance of the Sports Ministry, Athletic Association and other sporting bodies coming together to educate the young athletes on the side effects of using steroids and banned substances and to spread awareness of the consequences if the drugs are detected, “SLADA is trying their best, but I don’t see any progress. They need to have better policies which are transparent and open to punishment.
“There are many loopholes in the laws implemented against doping, so one can easily escape from it. Athletes don’t think about their future career and put their lives at risk to gain immediate, short term results. Their coaches should teach them to look at the short term perks against the bigger picture,” Darsha further said.
The battle against doping should be the collective effort of all related sporting bodies and individuals in the country with the purpose of promoting equal opportunities for all and safeguarding the health of talented sportsmen and women.
By Vimukthi Adithya/Ceylon Today
