who we are
The History of the Tamil Schools sports association
United Kingdom
The history of the Tamil Schools Sports Association is the sports history of the Tamil-speaking people in Britain, especially our younger generation, over the last 26 years. On the 24th of June 1992, twelve people interested in sports from eight schools of Jaffna district gathered at Wimbledon and discussed the progress of our people in the field of sports in this country. The management which includes the twelve who participated in this meeting Mr. B. Formed under the leadership of Ganesalingam. Successfully the first cricket matches were held on 31-08-1992 at the John Billum Sports Hall in Karrow for the participation of the sports teams of twelve Alumni Associations. As per the resolution of the founders, the Constitution was drafted and the new administration was elected in a general meeting attended by the representatives of the old students’ associations, and the Jaffna Schools Sports Association, which was joined by the Tamil Old Students’ Associations, was completed. New administrations have been elected and have completed two games annually and many other pending projects. While it is said that unity among the Tamil people is difficult and the activities of democratic organizations are impossible, there is no doubt that this organization, which has more than 60 Tamil alumni associations united for more than 26 years, is working successfully.
The name of the association was changed to Tamil Schools Sports Association in 1998 according to the times and needs. One-third of the annual profit from the sports festivals is deposited in a permanent deposit. The fund is intended to be used for the long-term development of the sports industry in the Tamil areas of Sri Lanka. Two-thirds of the surplus is distributed to participating alumni associations. Sports competitions such as cricket, football, netball and handball are held in various age groups every year during May bank holiday and August bank holiday. All the competitions of the Tamil Schools Sports Association are conducted with two objectives 1. To stimulate interest in sports among the Tamil community through competitions and develop young people into talented sportsmen. 2. To create unity among Tamil people through sports We believe that the above objectives have been partially achieved. A Tamil Schools Sports Association has been formed in Canada and is functioning well as Mr. Yogaratnam, a former secretary of JSSA (Sri Lanka) living in Canada invited him as a special guest for our sports festival. We invited a netball team from Canada for the 2001 sports festival of our association and held matches. The following year, we took our netball team to Canada to participate in tournaments. Through our efforts we made the Jaffna Schools Sports Association (ISSA Sri Lanka) operational again which was inactive due to the war. We conducted a soccer training camp in Jaffna. Throughout the year, we tried to create interest in sports by giving honor to the sports teams and players of schools of Jaffna district who were successful in various sports. We took our next generation of girls to Sri Lanka as a netball team. Our next generation girls born in England were part of this group. This team participated in competitions with school netball teams in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya and Colombo.
One of the long-standing objectives of our association, we have fully participated in the project of setting up a sports college at Kilinochchi with a view to making permanent arrangements for sports in the North-Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. Despite the expenditure of approximately 75 lakh rupees, the circumstances of the country and the end of the war put this rare project on hold. We organized a program called Tamil Sports Awards to honor and cheer our sportspersons. We can hope that TSSA will continue to work for the development of our sports in this land and the land of our birth, which are the objectives of TSSA.