They brought glory to Mother Lanka:

Perseverance key to netballers' success

Nilma Dole

Many accolades overwhelmed Sri Lanka's Netball team from all corners of the country after they clinched the Asian Netball Championship this year, but only a few were aware of the hard times the team mates have experienced. Many don't know that they have won the tournament three times but haven't been successful in winning a good sponsor.

Netball has been labelled as a women's game from the time it was played in Sri Lanka and has garnered international repute recently with the victory at the Asian Netball Championships but there are problems that the girls face when it comes to aspects like practicing and heading off for the tournaments.

"Every time we win for Sri Lanka in the Asian Championship, we get tributes and applause but at the end of a tiring day, we hardly receive the required funds to take our goals to greater heights," complained the coach of the Sri Lanka Netball team, Thilaka Jinadasa. There is a big hue and cry when they win but these girls have to suffer to come for practicing at the Torrington Grounds, Youth Council and Sugathadasa Stadium.

Speaking on how they selected the golden team, Jinadasa said, "Our Netball Selection Committee picked 15 girls from the National Pool of 30. At the time, it was the endurance and the talent of the girls that were taken into account."

"We wanted girls who had good endurance and strength to compete on the field and from the statistics we had, the aim was to train them well enough to have them geared for the championships" said Jinadasa. The team's performance was at the helm when their main goal shooter Tharajani Sivalingam, scored 74 points in the final where she acquired the title of 'Best Top Goal Scorer' in the competition with 380 goals in total.

"The vital aspect of Tharajani's training was that we had to boost her confidence," said Jinadasa about the 6-feet 10 inches Jaffna-born shooter who was discovered by the Eastern University (Batticaloa) coach Pathma, when she was studying there. She got the opportunity to represent Batticaloa District in the Inter-Association Netball Tournament in 2004 and officials of Sri Lanka Basketball Federation who attended the event were impressed with her height.

However, performance-wise, Jinadasa had to coach Tharajani into the right fitness regime to mould her into a good shooter. "The tournament was a milestone for Tharajani because it was after the training, that she was chosen for the National Netball Team by the national selectors" Jinadasa said.

Jinadasa explained: "Sri Lankan netball players do not perform to their fullest potential until they play with teams abroad. Our girls shouldn't be over-confident thinking that once they play at national level, they have made it. It's the experience abroad that really counts when it comes to clinching championships."

With this intention, coach Jinadasa decided it was high time the Netball Team trained either in Europe or Malawi as pre-match warming to give a better edge for the team.

"We were given accommodation and free meals for our time in Malawi but we had to pay for our own tickets - that wasn't provided to us from any sponsor" said Jinadasa.

However, with the help of Jinadasa 's Malawi friend, they managed to play some exhibition matches and some professional matches with the Malawi Netball Team who are placed sixth in the world. At the moment, Sri Lanka is placed 17th in the world and after winning the Asian Netball title, they expect to move up in the rankings.

"After our pre-match warm-up, we focused on the more demanding aspects of netball training like strengthening our strategies and looking to see where we can make our moves better," Jinadasa said. In this way, the Netball team was harnessing the maximum of their skills to take on the other teams.

"We have some great players in our team with two junior level players who add a youthful vigour to the team strategy" said Jinadasa about the Kalutara Balika MV and the Wennappuwa Holy Family Convent students who are in the team. "The rest of the team are in the mercantile sector including seven bankers, two from CTB, one from Access International and seven from Seylan and HNB" she said.

In the Seventh Asian Netball Championship finals, Sri Lanka beat Singapore (78-48) played in Malaysia. The Sri Lankan women had to lock horns with nine teams including strong Malaysia and Singapore teams that have been placed at a higher rank than Sri Lanka.

Jinadasa enlightened, "The unfortunate part of the international ranking system is that it requires netball teams to play as many matches to compare the level of skill with other teams. The problem is that many developing countries don't have the required funds to play abroad and hence, lose the opportunity to gain a better rank which is unfair."

On a more positive note, Jinadasa said that so far, the authorities have been helpful but life would be better if the netball team had a sponsor. "We acknowledge the Sri Lanka Netball Interim Committee and the Netball Federation including the Sports Ministry who helped us immensely.

However, we appeal to the public to help us bring glory to Sri Lanka by sponsoring us at the Commonwealth Netball Championships and the World Championships also" Jinadasa concluded with a hopeful smile.