Virosh - cager star in the making

Angu Rajendran

With his twinkling eyes and young face, Virosh Dharmadasa exudes energy when he talks about his 'best game ever'. Virosh of Colombo International School is the winner of the most coveted award - the Most Valuable Player of the most anticipated event in the Sri Lanka International Schools Calendar - The Under 19 basketball championships.

For most of the players this will be the last basketball championship in which they will play for their school. Not for Virosh. He says that he and his team are looking forward to the All Island Under 19 championships to be held early next year. They are hoping to win that after their glorious win at the International Schools Basketball Championships.

Virosh's story of rise to fame in the basketball arena is almost like a fairy story. Pushed to play when he was twelve by his mother, Virosh simply hated basketball at the start.

He hated the exercises. He hated the names that he was called by most of the others on the team because as he says "he was quite chubby". But his mother would not let him give up.

Also when he saw Under 13 captain at that time - Prashastha Hemachandra playing, he hoped to be as good as him one day. But the road to success has been very hard and very long but he worked hard. There were many times when he played for his schools under 15 and under 17 teams when he messed up the game.

"I had many down times" he says but his father worked with his game at home". He installed a hoop and passed to him and waited with him while he took 300 or more shots every day. Younger brother Thulhara also plays for the school team and he seemed to taste success as soon as he started.

Thulhara was the winner of the Most Valuable Player award for the Under 15 tournament last year and he bothered and bullied Virosh, telling him that all that Virosh every got had been 'The Best Defensive Player' award.

Virosh then started working on his push-ups. One hundred a day. And then, he started browsing the web for ways to improve his jump. He came across a very very strenuous program called AIR ALERT which was physically training. But Virosh never gave up.

He followed the program every day for two hours, every day for two months. "I actually became a fanatic", says Virosh. Of course I could not give up on my studies. I want to become a doctor and I am now in my A level class but I sacrificed my real passion tennis for basketball. There were too many games to balance".

"I chose basketball because I love my team mates. There is so much spirit and comradeship. Of course this is a spectator sport and there is so much glory in basket ball and we can play basketball against the local schools unlike cricket which the International Schools are not allowed to play in."

Virosh is also his school's cricket captain. But cricket is not as fast a game as basketball and the team work in basketball is way more important. Basketball is a great team game. I am so glad that I did not give up. All my hard work really payed off at the finals of the International Schools Championships, he says.

"I really have to thank my former captain Prashastha Hemachandra who would not let us give up even though Lyceum was leading in the last quarter of the game" says Virosh.

"My advice to all players is what Prashastha told me- Never hang your head down even for one second when you are playing. Never let the other team think that you have given up. Play hard till the last whistle blows," says Virosh.