GOALS

• Ensure the participation of 20 sportsmen in Olympics every year.
• Create an enabling environment and act as a catalyst and facilitator for the promotion and development of youth and sports at regional, national and international levels.
• Be responsive to the aspirations and needs of youth, empowering them for a better future and fostering a culture of sports among the citizens.

ACTION PLAN

Youth

1. Promote youth employment through training programmes at youth centres, on:
   1. Programmable logic control.
   2. Computer-aided design (CAD).
   3. Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM).
   4. Computer-aided engineering (CAE).
2. Introduce an online portal to educate youth on personal financial management.
3. Introduce a talent identification and development programme through access to resources, mentorship and industry connections for art, music, media, dance, entrepreneurship and sport.
4. Introduce a co-working space to pilot businesses and ideas with professional help from successful businessmen and low start-up risks for youth.
5. Introduce a 6-month fellowship programme for 21 selected teams with 22 alternating sessions of workshops and dedicated mentorship (1-to-1 sessions) to take their startup ideas to the next level.
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6. Initiate a series of talks where industry veterans, thought leaders and entrepreneurs will be invited to share their experiences with aspiring youth entrepreneurs.
7. Introduce new courses that match job-market demands, through the National Youth Council.
   Recommended courses:
   • Fitness instructors
   • Retail sales
   • Gardening
   • Receptionist
   • Café workers
   • Waiters
   • Child-care
   • Hospital attendants
   • Cleaning professionals
8. Introduce job search assistance and career counselling at the National Youth Council.
9. Facilitate personal and soft-skill development through digital resources.

Initiatives for rural youth employment

1. Geo-tag unemployed youth in each district and allocate them with suitable jobs based on their qualifications.
2. Introduce counselling for rural youth on job application procedures and job search.
3. Organise a youth-connect hub to support youth aged 13 to 19 who have left school without completing Grade 12 or are currently unemployed.
   1. Through the programme, provide guidance tailored to individual education and training needs.
   2. Provide a pre-vocational training platform for unemployed youth with poor academic performance.
      • Additionally, the youth connection programme will provide services for the differently-abled, identifying unique talents, capabilities and potential.
      • The programme will be designed to develop independence, life skills and corporate drive.

Assistance to startups

1. Introduce a web portal containing the best start-up magazines from around the world in Sinhalese, Tamil and English, where the magazines will be uploaded on a weekly basis.
2. Allocate Rs. 5 billion (Rs. 1 billion x 5 TV channels) for TV channels (3 Sinhalese TV channels, 1 Tamil channel and 1 English channel) with the best proposal for a start-up reality show which will cover 5 industries on 5 different days on a weekly basis.
3. Develop a start-up portal including free resources such as business guides, online courses, market research and partnered services.
4. Establish an angel-investor tax concessionary scheme to boost investment activity in the country and attract qualified angel investors.

   An approved angel investor who invests a minimum of Rs. 1 million of qualifying investment in a qualifying start-up, is eligible to claim a tax deduction of 50% of his investment amount at the end of a two-year holding period.

5. Initiate startup incubators in universities where students are provided with services such as mentoring, business lab facilities, financial advice, student patent programmes, IP commercialisation, etc.
6. Provide capital for unemployed youth entrepreneurs (from age 18-37) up to Rs. 750,000 as a one-time interest free loan.

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Action Plan on sports

Smart Sports

1. Develop a platform for digitalising all sports records and manage each player directly from school level.
2. Use AI to choose winning combinations of players to represent the sport at National and International level.
3. Use smart wearables with high calibre players to track their vital statistics during practice sessions and matches to predict future performance.
4. Use AI to predict event attendance rates and optimise ticket pricing and sales to improve monetisation of sports.
5. Provide online video-based training and courses for coaches.

Athletics

1. Introduce a “National Sports Talent Portal” for school athletics
   • Track events: 100m to Marathon.
   • Field events: All field events including high jump, javelin, etc.

   The portal will ensure the availability of athletic records at school, circuit, zonal, provincial and all-island levels for all schools.

   Select and create a pool of the top performing 1,000 athletes who have the capability to reach Olympic level and provide them with training in Colombo with education, accommodation and expenses.

2. Introduce an online portal that utilises videos to teach sports techniques for all main sports.
3. Improve and expand the National Institute of Sports Science for the training of coaches.
   1. Introduce sports education courses, and make them available to trainers and sports team managers, for development of coaching skills, sports medicine and associated skill-sets such as physiotherapy, recovery management, etc.
   2. Create online courses and training videos for coaches.
4. Recruit sports persons with international experience as assistant coaches.
   Engage the best performers in Coaching Diploma courses from various disciplines on a contract basis.
5. Provide tax incentives for companies that sponsor sports teams.
6. Develop a stadium with a synthetic rubber athletic track in each province.
7. Provide public access to facilities at Department of Sports Development (fitness centre, pools) by charging a nominal fee. All facilities to be used under supervision of a trained coach.
8. Establish a sports centre for the differently-abled to assist them to train and participate in sports activities.
9. Develop existing sports complexes.
   1. Rebrand complexes as “sports clubs” and every district to have one fully equipped sports club with all the main facilities including a pool, gym, playground, etc.
   2. Introduce recreational activities such as dining spaces and sports camps at these sports clubs.
   3. Build a sports city including an academy, recreation area and various sports activities, within 15 km of Colombo.
10. Establish a sports infrastructure development strategy in partnership with the private sector
    Government to lease out an existing underutilised infrastructure facility for a fixed period of 50 years to the private entity to renovate the facility and maintain the premises.
11. Launch an app to find the nearest sports facility such as swimming pools, cycling routes, cricket or football grounds, etc.
12. Hold sports league events for cricket, hockey, basketball, volleyball, netball and football with participation of foreign players.
13. Attract international triathlon events to Sri Lanka by improving necessary infrastructure and facilities that will conveniently accommodate organisers and participants.
    Suggested areas for triathlons are Hambantota, Colombo, Nuwara Eliya, and Trincomalee.
14. Develop existing golf courses and facilities to attract international golf tournaments to Sri Lanka.
15. Maintain an event calendar for sports.
16. Develop and strengthen traditional sports and recreational activities such as Angampora, Kabaddi and Elle.

Cricket

1. Include Cricket in the “National Talent Portal” and identify individual performance levels of each player across the country.
2. Utilise AI for the early identification of skill-sets in individual sportspersons, particularly for sports such as cricket.
   Include smart bats and smart balls that collect data from players and school level cricketers, helping decision makers analyse and select the most talented players.
3. Develop a cricket ground in each district with domestic level standards.
4. Develop Radella cricket ground as an international ground.