Dr Kapuwatte breaks his own record
S M Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sprots correspondent
Dr. Sarath Kapuwatte broke his own record when he was re-elected as
the President of the champion rugby club - the Kandy Sports Club at the
138th Annual General Meeting of the Club held at Nittawela recently.
Dr. Sarath Kapuwatte (on left) with Malik Samarawickrema |
He was elected for the 18th time which is an overall record according
to the records displayed at the club house. The most number of times
held by the previously elected Presidents was around five times.
Dr. Sarath Kapuwatte had his early education at St. Thomas College,
Mount Lavinia where he excelled in hockey and boxing. He comes from a
well-known Kandyan family and his ancestors has been one of the earliest
Diyawadana Nilame of the Sri Dalada Maligawa - the lay custodian of the
Holy Tooth Relic held in great veneration by Buddhists and others world
over.
Dr. Sarath Kapuwatte who has a very good practice in the city of
Kandy took over position as the President of the Kandy Sprots Club at a
time when the club was not doing too well and that was in 1990. The club
was functioning only during certain parts of the year - that was during
the inter club rugby season. It went into slumber off season. The
facilities was minimal.
Though a fairly good crowd turned out for matches but the gate
collections were poor as the grounds did not have a perimeter wall and
gunnies were a poor substitute and the spectators made holes and watched
matches without paying from the roads. Then there was the famous
Nittawela hill behind the club house from which the crowds watched the
matches without paying. At times the crowds from this place was a
nuisance as they threw stones into the field and caused a disruption of
the matches and still could away as the culprits could not be
apprehended.
So all this had to be changed and apart form the gate collections the
money spinner of any club is the collection from the bar which was
hardly patronised at that time. If the club is to benefit from these two
areas, vast changes had to be made and the facilities upgraded to
attract members off season. It was with this vision that Dr. Sarath
Kapuwatte started working and of course with the tacit support of the
Trustee of the Club Malik Samarawickrema whose contribution to the club
is legendary and could not be described in an article of this nature.
When Dr. Sarath Kapuwatte took over the Presidency of the Club, the
club not only faced a financial crisis and found two sponsors in Sun
Match Company Limited and Union Assurance Company Limited headed by its
Branch Manager Hilmy Sulaiman. Perhaps this was the first time that the
Club had found two sponsors and earlier the practice had been for the
sports benefactors in the hill capital to pool in the money and meet the
expenses involved in playing a match during the weekend. What else could
you do with an empty kitty if the club is to survive.
As President Dr. Sarath Kapuwatte had another problem in 1991, and
the future of the club playing top division rugby was in stake for the
first time in its history of rugby. That year Kandy Sports Club had to
play a relegation match with Petersons SC and win the match, if they are
to survive in premier division.
Kandy was able to get over this hurdle and later to make giant
strides. That was a crucial moment in the history of the club and if not
in the history of rugby in Kandy. It was their survival from this
relegation match which helped Kandy to ride high.
The excellent performances of the Club in the years which followed
which gave a new dimension to rugby in the hill capital and more schools
took to rugby and crowds swelled at matches with the initial arrival of
ruggerites from the Fiji Islands Kitioni Ratrudradra a brilliant flanker
and Bati Penaia another forceful centre. Playing Finians in the Kandy SC
rugby team was a new concept and the crowds flocked to see them. They
were later joined by Vallimoni Satala from Fiji a fine scrum half and
Tony Greanney from New Zealand - a fine flanker. Crowds flocked to see
them. That was in 1992 and the crowds flocked to see them and Kandy
Sprots Club for the first time won a trophy which was the Clifford Cup.
There was celebrations all-round the city by a grateful public. This was
the start for the record breaking feats of the Club.
Dr. Sarath Kapuwatte was the President of the Club in is first stage
from 1990-1994 for five years and the Club’s Constitution did not permit
him to see re-election in 1995. After a one year lapse he was re-elected
for 1997 and 1998. In 1999 he stepped down to give way to a very senior
member of the club when it celebrated its 125th Anniversary but he
worked tirelessly behind the scenes for the Celebrations of the Club
which included and International Rugby Sevens which was later he gain
recognition by the International Rugby Board (IRB) and the Asian Ruby
Football Union (ARFU) too expressed great satisfaction in the manner
this tournament which was called the Singer Sri Lankan International
Rugby Sevens was conducted. Over the years this tournament grew up in
stature till it came to its untimely death three years and it was due to
no fault of the organisers.
He was again elected President for 8 consecutive years from 2000 to
2007 till ill-health dogged him and he was forced to give up as he had
to travel abroad for surgery and treatment.
But being at Kandy Sports Club is some which is irresistible to this
sporting doctor and he was back in the saddle as President from 2010 to
2012 and matters concerning his health seems to be secondary to him but
not the activities of Kandy sports Club. He has stopped his medical
practice in the City of Kandy but continues to be the President of the
Club which was beset with many problems especially last season and if it
had been anybody else would have made a quiet exit, citing health
reasons but not Dr. Sarath Kapuwatte who likes challenges and faces them
bravely. |