NOC SL finalises 2030 Strategic Plan to realise next decade of sports excellence

The think pad of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka has pondered and reached a holistic juncture where they could visualise their situation ten years hence.

The task at hand has been described as the NOC SL Strategic Plan Development.

The Lankan Olympic task team has been at this for the past few months with 360-degree visualisation and have tried to plug in all aspects of how they are hoping to achieve this arduous task. The task heads of the program were consultant Professor Emmanuel Bayle while the team was headed by the NOC SL Secretary General Maxwell de Silva and Professor B.L.H. Perera.

Explaining what and how they achieved this phase of the program, Prof. B.L.H. Perera said: “The

Strategic Plan is a plan that any organisation or country may compile very ambitiously. The National

The Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka set up this strategic plan to reach certain levels for the future. Yet, without a plan, we cannot achieve this on a yearly basis and make a real forecast. Now the Strategic Plan of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka will be for the next ten years, to be precise 2032.”

The program chief said how they are aiming to reach their set goal. One cannot reach the desired goal haphazardly. He explained: “First of all what we have done as a team is to study where we stand today. From that point onwards we have drawn up a plan for the year 2032 and that will be reached at various levels. In that regard initially, we have studied our strengths in our sporting system which is a prerequisite.

“The NOC SL as an apex body should get the feelings of other sports systems through various means. It is a sports community in general – the Athletes, federations and even the Ministry of Sports. We are connected by means like funding, advising and providing leadership for sports.

“We have looked at where they are perched strength-wise. We have listed what our strengths are. In the same way, we have probed into what our operational weaknesses are. In the same manner, we have accessed the opportunities and the threats. How we intend to grab things and move forwards. What are the threats and understand how to move forward within?”

The program was completed through sheer research. The committee interviewed all major federations and sports institutions such as the Sri Lanka Anti-Doping Agency, the Institute of Sports Medicine Unit, and others arriving at conclusions about how they operate. In that manner, they get a full understanding of how things work. Even the Ministry of Sports was analysed.

He went on to explain that they also probed the sub-organisations. They are not very close to the NOC SL’s system but within the scope. He said: “We conducted a seminar for them. In that seminar, we did a very thorough investigation on four points – the strengths, the weaknesses, opportunities and threats like before. Gathering all this information, we have now drafted the general frame and it would help us to move forward. The general framework with five main pillars. It’s called the main frame of strategic thinking. 

“For instance, one of the pillars could be described as NOC and we are a very closed organisation at present. If we are hoping to open the doors, the NOC should open up for other persons and organisations to work with us. The next will be using sport as a vehicle to seek answers to various questions like – working with tourism, education, health and any other industry outside sport. Likewise, we have selected five solid pillars. Those are the pillars that will hold our strategic plan for the future.”

He added that: “These pillars are the orientations. We are setting up a direction of where we are planning to arrive. That is 2032. Under the pillars, there are 21 sub-orientations. We have identified certain elements and they have been bisected into several parts. Under the 21 sub-orientations, we have actions and objectives. Under one sub-orientation, there may be 10-15 action plans. It is likely, to begin with, a concept of centres for excellence and then develop more of them to cover all districts and a timeline will be imposed.”

Prof B.L.H. Perera explained that this was a composite plan aiming to develop the sports community through the next decade.