S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia partners with SportUnleash to provide annual Sports Talent Identification Reports aimed at identifying students’ sporting potential.
S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with SportUnleash to introduce annual sports talent identification reporting for its students, in a move aimed at identifying athletic potential at an earlier stage of their development.
Under the partnership, SportUnleash will provide the College with its Sports Talent Identification Services, giving the school additional information that could assist coaches, students and parents in understanding the sporting disciplines for which individual students may possess suitable physical attributes.
The initiative introduces a more data-led approach to sporting development at one of Sri Lanka’s best known schools, which has a long history of participation in cricket, rugby, athletics, swimming and several other competitive sports.
Moving Beyond Traditional Talent Selection
Traditionally, young athletes are often introduced to sports through personal preference, family influence, school opportunities or the observations of coaches.
SportUnleash takes a different approach.
According to SportUnleash Founder and Chairman Talavou Alailima, a former Sri Lanka national shot put and discus record-holder, South Asian Games medallist and US-qualified Strength Training and Sports Nutrition Consultant, the system assesses physical characteristics and performance-related information to identify sports, and in some cases particular positions or events, that may correspond with a child’s physical attributes.
Alailima said the resulting report is designed as an advisory tool to help parents and coaches make more informed decisions about sporting development.
Its assessment process considers information including height, weight and other physical measurements, alongside performance indicators involving speed, jumping ability, throwing, strength and endurance.
The organisation currently provides reports identifying multiple sports for which a child may demonstrate potential, allowing students and their families to consider different sporting pathways rather than relying solely on performance in a sport they already play.
A Longer Association With School Sport
SportUnleash was first publicly introduced in Sri Lanka in 2014 by former national shot put and discus athlete Talavou Alailima.
At the time, the system was presented as a method of identifying sporting aptitude at a young age by examining the relationship between children’s physical characteristics and the physical demands of different sporting disciplines.
Significantly, S. Thomas’ College also has an historical connection to the initiative. The College’s then Warden was among those present when SportUnleash was officially introduced in Colombo in 2014.
The latest MOU therefore represents a more structured relationship between the College and the sports talent identification programme.
Annual Reports Could Help Track Development
An important feature of the agreement is its annual nature.
Rather than conducting a single assessment, repeated reporting could provide the College with information as students mature physically and progress through their school years.
SportUnleash presently offers schools an annual Schools Sports Talent Report programme, which it says can be provided over a seven-year period.
For S. Thomas’ College, the information could potentially complement the observations of coaches and physical education staff when introducing students to sports, developing existing athletes or identifying students whose abilities may be better suited to disciplines they have not previously considered.
The reports should nevertheless be viewed as one component of talent development rather than a guarantee of future sporting success. SportUnleash itself states that its recommendations are advisory and that decisions about whether a child pursues a recommended sport remain with parents or guardians.
Identifying Talent Before It Is Missed
The broader significance of programmes of this nature lies in identifying potential beyond students who are already performing strongly in established school teams.
Some children may possess speed, strength, endurance, coordination or other physical qualities suited to a particular sport without ever having been introduced to that discipline.
An organised talent-identification programme provides another mechanism through which those abilities can potentially be recognised.
For a school with a significant sporting tradition such as S. Thomas’ College, the partnership could therefore provide coaches with another tool to help identify and develop athletes while giving students a wider understanding of where their sporting strengths may lie.
The MOU ultimately places greater emphasis on a question increasingly important in modern sport: not simply whether a child is good at the sport he currently plays, but whether there may be another sport in which his natural physical characteristics could allow him to develop even further.
