Bid to develop netball in the outstations

Chris Dhambarage

The Sri Lanka Netball Federation has launched a massive development plan in their attempt to promote the game in the outstations and to make the game the most popular women's sport in the country.

The newly-elected Secretary of the Netball Federation Damayanthi Jayatilleke stated that already they have started a series of programs and new tournaments while targeting next year's World Championships in Singapore.

The 33-year-old former Sri Lanka captain and dynamic centre field player said that their focus has been towards the Northern and the Eastern Provinces where the game has taken a new dimension after the culmination of the most difficult period in that area.

Incidentally, their first tournament was held in Trincomalee recently where several promising players represented their respective teams from Jaffna and Vavuniya. As a result the Netball Federation was able to pick some outstanding players who will be put under the watchful eyes of the national selectors during the trials in Colombo.

Jayatilleke who has represented the country for more than 13 years said that the Federation has also taken steps to improve the standard of refereeing in the country. And with this in mind a workshop for the referees followed by an examination will be held in Jaffna shortly.

The Federation in another move to lift the standard of the game is planning to give more international exposure to the local referees and they will be graded according to their performances.

Jayatilleke, a former student of Pannala National School, Kurunegala said that there is a tremendous following and a good response for the game in Jaffna and Vavuniya as Sri Lanka's tallest and the most successful netball player in the recent past Tharjani Sivalingam also hails from the Northern peninsula.

Jayatilleke who also captained the Sri Lanka Ports Authority team noted that Sri Lanka with an international ranking of 15 has qualified for the World Championships in Singapore and they have already commenced their preparations for this important event.

She said that a senior national coach will be appointed very soon and thereafter a 35-member pool will be selected and trained with the support of all 34-member District Associations.

In another significant move the newly-elected set of office-bearers successfully conducted the senior national tournament at the Nittawela grounds in Kandy.

Damayanthi Jayatilleke believes that this was a special moment as the senior nationals had not been held for three years.

She noted that this was made possible largely due to the support and the financial backing of the Sports Ministry as they are yet to find an official sponsor for the team. She further stressed the fact that the junior national under 21 tournament has also not been held for the past three years. Arrangements are underway to conduct this tournament in Colombo shortly.

Jayatilleke who guided Sri Lanka to win the Asian Championships in 2001 in Colombo stated that Sports Minister C B Ratnayake is also keen to see that the game is spread in the rural areas and they would conduct more tournaments in the outstations in the coming months.

She said that another set of players were selected for the trials following the senior national championships in Kandy and a trial will be conducted on October 22 in Colombo.

Jayatilleke who also captained the national team for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester however lamented due to the lack of facilities they are unable to conduct a residential coaching camp and need to pay a huge sum of money for their regular practice sessions at the Sugathadasa Stadium and at the National Youth Services Centre in Maharagama.

She hoped that the Sports Minister would look into their concerns and at least build an outdoor netball court for their training and matches which would be a huge boost for the game in this country.

Jayatilleke commended the wonderful efforts of President Leisha de Silva Chandrasena and the rest of the office-bearers who are working hard to achieve their ultimate goals and to help Sri Lanka gain more recognition in the international scene.