Soft Skills Development Programme by Sri lanka Cricket….

On an initiative of the newly appointed Chairman and the Interim Committee of SLC, a comprehensive soft skills development programme has been launched recently by SLC for cricketers of all categories and age groups, covering a wide range of realms which would empower them with essential life skills in a wider spectrum.
Having done an in-depth study of knowledge gaps of our players, Human Resources Department of SLC, in its training need analysis has identified 11 areas to be encompassed in this enthusiastic programme, namely: General English, Presentation skills development, Sports Psychology, Social etiquette, Personal grooming, Basic IT skills, Leadership training, Finance and Investment Management, Cricket history and spirits of the game. In addition, Yoga has been incorporated in the curriculum in order to boost players’ concentration power and mental stability for a longer and healthier career in cricket.
SLC plans to conduct this programme as an ongoing process throughout the year in future despite changes in SLC administration. As the pilot project of this programme, SLC commenced the social etiquette module at Max Academy with the national team. This module is conducted by Dila Hettiarachchi, an expert in this area with years of experience in corporate training. Similarly, SLC hopes to make use of the best resource personnel in respective areas for this programme.
It was also mooted to conduct a programme for wives of players on nutrition, stress management and performance life cycle, in line with a similar programme conducted by Cricket Australia. This will ensure a healthy and stress free ambience for players even in home environment.
Speaking on the occasion of the commencement of this programme, Sidath Wettimuni, Chairman of SLC outlined the objective of this exercise as a genuine effort to transform our cricketers to be true ambassadors of the country, thus upholding the dignity of our proud nation. E-Wis, a prominent company in IT industry, has already come forward to set up a fully fledged IT lab for use by players with free training at the request of the Chairman. SLC is confident that this programme will be a grand success and the players in turn will benefit immensely out of this initiative in the long run.