Designed to identify and unlock the true potential of a new generation of sportsmen, SportUnleash is a revolutionary new talent identification system that aims to effectively harness and hone sporting talent from an early age.

SportUnleash is a sports talent and physical attribute identification algorithm for children aged 9 to 11, which uses a broad range of non-invasive methodologies to generate a scientifically sound report that identifies the ideal sports for a child, enabling children to learn to enjoy and excel at sports from a young age.

“A predictive test is exactly what is needed for the long term development of sports. It is not enough to tell children to do a sport, but the knowledge of which sport they should pursue at an early age is invaluable for them to successfully progress”, asserts Professor Arjuna P. De Silva, Professor in Medicine and the Chairman of the Sri Lanka Anti-Doping Agency, who is among those who endorse SportsUnleash as a timely and judicious mechanism.

Among the benefits offered by the report is the ability to identify natural skills and talents during childhood, offering each child the distinctive advantage of choosing the sport best suited to them according to their physical attributes.  It also gives those with high potential sufficient time and opportunity as well as the necessary guidance to work on and develop their skills to professional world-class levels.

Dr. David Young, Orthopaedic Surgeon for the Australian and Sri Lankan cricket teams asserts that ‘the ability to identify the talent of a 9 year old for a particular sport, before that child has had exposure to an organised sport or activity makes the SportUnleash testing program stand out’.

Hailing the mechanism as a fascinating innovation, former Australian cricketer and Cricket World cup winning coach Dav Whatmore says that having carefully studied the process he believes ‘it to be the best approach and most suited method to both arrive at the most capable sports of a child whilst making its implementation as simple and scalable as possible’. 

SportUnleash is the brainchild of Talavou Alailima, an eminent personality widely hailed as an authority in the field of sports fitness and nutrition. A US qualified Strength Training and Sports Nutrition Consultant, Talavou who holds a Master of Sports Management degree, is the CEO of the pioneering chain of ‘Power World’ fitness centres.  An NCCA All American Athlete and South Asian Games Medalist, he has for the past two decades been a much sought after Sports Nutrition and Strength Training consultant for many national clubs, school teams and champion athletes.

The SportUnleash algorithm is the result of over two decades of his first-hand experience in the physical attribute transformation of sportspersons, education in a wide range of sports science and performance disciplines and research in Sports high performance and Fitness.  The algorithm has undergone robust testing by medical experts such as Dr. Nishantha Gunasekera who asserts that he has “…evaluated and exhaustively and critically analysed the science, the algorithm, reports and final application possibilities of the above system’ and has ‘found it to be sound scientifically and robust in application’

The inventor and architect of SportUnleash, Talavou says he aims to ‘initiate and encourage a more strategic and sustainable approach to sports development while fostering a love for sports among children, and is backed by President of the Asian Federation of Sports Medicine Major General Dr. C. Thurairaja who asserts that “..the benefit to a child, the parents and the sports organisation or country of knowing early which sport he/she can excel in remains the singular most important need in order to produce the champions of today’ .

As a dependable predictor of sports skill and talent, SportUnleash is a mechanism that will guide and encourage children towards more active participation in sports.  ‘The beauty of the system is that it can not only match the best sport for the child, but also predict the role they are best suited for within the sport.  It can for example predict whether a child should be play flanker or full back in rugby or concentrate on the butterfly or backstroke in swimming’ Talavou explains. Professor Rohan Jayasekara, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Colombo adds that ‘SportUnleash has taken that which was in its concept stage and made it into a reality. This innovation now makes it possible to unlock and push the true potential of the human body to achieve a new level of performance’.

The mechanism will be rolled out nationwide with the support of 500 SportUnleash specialists comprising school coaches of various sports disciplines around the island and will be available to the public at an inclusive fee of Rs. 1750 for a 20 page report, aiming to encourage testing among school children. The report includes 16 pages of information and is a veritable guide for parents on a cross-section of topics including sports nutrition, training and guidance on maximizing the genetic growth potential of a child.