CSR News
“May-Mannar” TEQ Tree Planting Project started on May 6, 2021 [Thursday] in Mannar district ground to create a greeny environment for the teqlankans and other players.
Mannar district teqlankans including players, coaches and referees showed their enthusiasm in planting trees in their district in various places in May. Therefore, the ‘May-Mannar’ tree planting project is organised by the Teq Mannar and Teq Manthai West clubs under the auspices of TEQ Sri Lanka.
Mannar is one of the tropical places in Sri Lanka and its average temperate for any month is not less than 28 degrees Celsius. Also, tropical thorn forests can be seen in Manthai West where one of our teqball clubs is running. Therefore, TEQ Sri Lanka encouraged the teqlankans to launch this project to provide a greeny environment to our teqlankans as well as to other sports players.
As an initiative of the ‘May-Mannar’ project, the TEQ coordinator for Mannar district - T. Sivananthan, President of TEQ Mannar Association - S. Rex Arulnesan, District Sports Officer and TEQ Mannar Association Secretary - M.J.S. Princely Lambert, Sports Officer and TEQ Coach and Referee - J. Jeramy, Vice President of TEQ Mannar Association - P. Nilalan, and on behalf of school coaches and Referees E. Jebakara and A. Norris Angelo planted many Pongame Oil Trees (புங்கை) around the Mannar district playground.
Pongame Oil Trees are native to tropical Asia. However, it is found not only in India but also in China, Japan, Malaysia, Australia and the Pacific Islands. It grows to about 15–25 m in height with a large canopy that spreads equally wide. Moreover, the tree is well suited to intense heat and sunlight, and its dense network of lateral roots and its thick, long taproot makes it drought tolerant. Interestingly, the oil of the tree can be used for many traditional usages. Also, the flowers are used by gardeners as compost for plants requiring rich nutrients. Therefore, this type of tree was chosen by the organisers considering multiple benefits of the tree.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, TEQ Sri Lanka could not bring our athletes in one place and we had to make it happened with a minimum number of participants, however, this project shall run until the end of the month in Mannar.
“As a coordinator of TEQ Mannar, I have successfully initiated this remarkable project during this hard time in a safe environment. Actually, the reason I was motivated to do this through sports associations was to create a greeny environment for our players. Today, I have initiated it with great pleasure. I believe that all sports actors shall make the sport environment more valuable”, Mannar coordinator Sivananthan said.
District Sports Officer and Secretary of TEQ Mannar Association - M.J.S. Princely Lambert said, “Teqball is a great example today to other sports through this social responsibility activity. I am sure the near future generation shall definitely get benefited through our today’s great job and I am sure I shall maintain it until it grows well.”
Let’s make our environment green, play TEQ with super oxygen, and proud to be Teqlankan!
Author: Gobinath Sivarajah
Teqball is on the rise in Sri Lanka, with the country’s National Teqball Federation showing excellent leadership as it looks to build awareness of the sport across the country and give more people the chance to play the world’s fastest-growing sport.
The National Federation, which is recognised by the country’s NOC and Ministry of Sports, recently received over 50 Teq tables as part of FITEQ’s National Federation and Club Development Programmes and its team is now in the process of distributing the tables across the country. Tables have already been distributed to Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar, Vavuniya, Diyatalawa, Kandy, Mahara, Velikada and Colombo. The National Federation is also developing beach teqball, with Vice President and hotel owner Malinga Fernando leading this initiative. The federation plans to distribute tables to beach resorts across the country in the coming months.
However, teqball’s journey in Sri Lanka is about more than just sport, with the National Federation embracing FITEQ’s ambition to use teqball to inspire positive change. Sri Lanka has been affected by natural disasters and conflicts in recent years, particularly in Northern Province and Eastern Province, and the country’s growing teqball community is determined to use the sport to create a lasting legacy in communities that need it the most.
Gobinath Sivarajah, who is a Marketing and Media Manager at the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka and Project Manager for the National Teqball Federation, explains the importance of creating teqball-powered CSR programmes: “It was only in 2009 that 30-year civil war ended. Over 100,000 people died during the conflict, which has left many children without parents. On top of this, communities are still feeling the impact of the tsunami at the end of 2004. Peoples’ lives have been changed forever but we believe that through teqball, we can give them a better, healthier and happier lifestyle.”
The federation’s CSR programmes will be implemented across the country, but there is an initial focus in Jaffna, which is a city that has been particularly hard-hit by the conflict and the tsunami.
The National Federation also enjoys a strong relationship with Sri Lanka’s prison community. The President of the National Federation is Gamini Jayasinghe, who is also the current NOC Treasurer. Before retirement, Jayasinghe was the Prisons Commissioner of Sri Lanka and he has been able to use his connections to help accelerate the growth of teqball whilst supporting the prison community.
In addition to this, the National Federation has scheduled introductory workshops in Eastern Province, Colombo, Kandy, Negombo, and Matara and it plans to undertake online training for coaches before organising a National Championships in June. The federation will also send a team to the Asian Beach Games in Sanya, where teqball will make its debut as a medal sport.
The federation’s initiatives are communicated through multiple channels, notably social media, to help build awareness of teqball and engage the young in the sport. Thanks to the work of Sri Lanka’s National Teqball Federation, the future in the country is bright and the future is Teq.
