Wijeweera lifts Lankan gymnastics

If you need someone who has got talent, dedication and desire to serve his country, Wijeweera should should be the man on top of the list. V A Wijeweera, a veteran gymnastic player, coach and administrator who came from village and reached the top of the sport has reached the golden jublee in his career.

Wijeweera took up to gymnastics when he was in Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda and later continued at Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa under the guidance of Leslie Handunge and became the first secretary in the inaugural gymnastic association of Prince of Wales.

He later became the Physical Education Instructor in the Education Department and joined Sri Sangaraja Maha Vidyalaya, Maradana where Wijeweera formed a gymnastic team in the school apart from having in charge of the school cadet section.

He improved sports in Sangaraja Maha Vidyalaya so far that they won the all island soccer championship in 1964 and also took the team for a three week tour of India for the first time in the schools sports history.

The first residential gymnastic training camp was organized by Wijeweera in 1966 at Royal College, Colombo and around 100 gymnastic players from different areas in the country took part. He contributed his service to gymnastic by popularizing the sport together with the education ministry.

He got a scholarship to a sports university in Leipzig in Germany and returned as the first diploma holder in gymnastics in Sri Lanka. His excellent achievements saw him being appointed the officer in charge of gymnastic in the sports ministry.

Wijeweera spent time to conduct training sessions in schools, teacher training colleges and universities. He became the national gymnastic coach in 1970 who succeeded in getting constructed a gymnastic complex by the sports ministry in the ministry premises. Veteran Wijeweera then started training sessions in the new gymnasium which was equipped with modern facilities. Even today the routine is continued by his students.

A focal point was that in 1975 he pioneered the national gymnastic association and held gymnastic performances by inviting German, Japanese and Russian gymnastic teams to give local players the much needed international exposure in the sport.

He was there in the Sri Lanka Gymnastic Association as the administrative secretary even after his retirement from the education ministry at the request of then sports minister S B Dissanayake.

Wijeweera who has rendered yeoman service to gymnastic in Sri Lanka is still a healthy and active person in his 70s and spends time quietly recalling his past but pleasant memories at his residence in Moratuwa. He no doubt is the person who has done immense service to promote gymnastic in Sri Lanka.