Lahiru leads his team to victory by example

Angu Rajendran

The B division Under 15 boys basketball finals was on. Two unexpected teams were in the finals. CIS Kandy and De La Salle College, both teams who were under dogs in the tournament found themselves in the finals at the De La Salle College basketball court.

The home crowd erupted with cheering and clapping as the La Sallians closed the lead in the third quarter.

The pressure was too much for the group of five CIS Kandy boys. But Lahiru Karaliyadde, the captain kept his cool.

Thundering support

Despite the huge and thundering support for the home crowd, he kept himself and his team going. 'We can beat them,' he encouraged his friends. 'Let's just think that the cheering is for us. Let us play at our same pace. Of course we can win.' And then Lahiru received many side-throw passes with his left hand, throwing his defense off balance while he took his classic off-balance shots that are so difficult to defend.

He led his team to victory through his example. An unspectacular but totally dependable player, Coach Pingamage of the CIS Kandy team depended very much on young Lahiru Karaliyadde - the captain, to win the All Island B division tournament for CIS, Kandy and Lahiru delivered the goods in match after match.

It is but natural that he was judged the MOST VALUABLE PLAYER of the tournament. What is unusual is that this is Lahiru's debut tournament.

Lahiru is a left-hander who has been practicing his off-balance shot for many months. According to the coach 'Lahiru stands out among his team of good players because he is an extremely dedicated player and has been, for the last several years. He practices his dribbling and passing, at home every single day. Obviously he is better than the rest.'

'Colombo International School Kandy has never been in a final before,' says their Coach Pingamage. 'In fact the school of just three hundred students has never reached the final of any tournament - basketball or any other sport. '

They came to the final after winning very close matches against Lyceum Nugegoda in the semi-finals and Prince of Wales in the quarters.

Coach Pingamage's team is a very close knit, well trained team but Lahiru stands out. Especially in the final where the score at the end of the game stood at 85/71, Lahiru's top score for his team of 26 points kept CIS KANDY in the lead.

Lahiru started playing basketball at CIS Kandy since there really were no other sports available when he started at the age of 12.

He hates cricket and so the only option was for him to join the basketball team where all his classmates were also playing. And when Coach Pingamage joined the school two years ago, 'the motivation was tremendous,' says Lahiru.

Great guy

'Our coach is a real great guy; he never hits us or shouts at us in anger, even during a tense moment in a match.

Not even in the final against De La Salle when my team mates were losing hope under pressure.'

Children copy adult behavior and it is no wonder that Lahiru and the rest of his team-mates have a calm, easy going and confident nature that is so unusual to find in a high flying basketball team.

Where most coaches in a fit of temper, shout at and even sometimes slap a player, Pingamage explains calmly when the pressure starts to build.

Lahiru is the captain of his school's Under 15 and Under 17 team as well. Mature for his age and extremely soft spoken and fond of his team, Lahiru is also his younger brother, ten-year old Kieran's basketball coach.

The saying 'we teach best what we most need to learn' is so apt in this case. By coaching his brother Kieran, Lahiru feels that both of them improve every day. Kieran is the school's Under 13 captain this year.

'I practice at least one hundred off-balance shots every day' says Lahiru 'but it is not always a good thing. I learnt from this tournament that I need to practice my free throws too.

Straight shot

I missed so many free throws, even though it is a straight shot and that too without any defense. It is all because I don't practice it enough. I only practice my off-balance shot.'

Lahiru says, having practiced the off-balance shot, he found it very useful during the matches to take those shots that could not be defended.

He was quite sure that he and his team would win the B division tournament despite the fact that this was the first time that he is playing in an All Island tournament as he was nursing a spinal injury last year.

What gave him that confidence? Just before the tournament his team had played a friendly match against Azar Central - the best basketball team in Kandy according to Lahiru and CIS Kandy had won.

This gave them supreme confidence and when they beat Lyceum Nugegoda in the semi finals, Lahiru knew for sure that the title would be theirs.

He says that he and his team-mates lack experience but definitely do not lack skills and fundamentals because their coach drills them in those every day.

'We are learning everyday and this tournament has been an incredible experience for our entire school.

No one could believe that we had won a tournament and that too - a basketball tournament.

Who knows maybe one day soon we will win an A division tournament too,' says Lahiru who has flying plans for the future.

He is a Year 10 student at CIS Kandy and wants to become a pilot and continue playing basketball in his spare time.

With the discipline and hard work that he has learnt from basketball he will surely reach his goals.