Nimal Etipola - a fine hockey player and coach

S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen, - Kandy Sports Corr

Ms Nimal Etipola has an unparalleled record in the field of hockey which she has served with dedication and devotion as a player, coach, umpire and administrator in a career which spans over 43 years.

During this period she has had many firsts and brought honour to our motherland.

The game of hockey runs in her blood though her father Walter Jayasuriya did not play the game of hockey as this game was not known in this country during his younger days but he is known as the 'Father of Hockey' in Sri Lanka as he has the honour of introducing this game to Sri Lanka. He did not stop at that as he took to umpiring and coaching which helped this game tremendously during its formative years.

Nimal Etipola took to hockey at a very young age and she was influenced by her father's love for the game as at that time only India later Pakistan played the game. They were world class and were world champions in turns.

An old girl of Visakha Vidyalaya and using her father's love for hockey, she was able to influence her school authorities to take to hockey and was their first captain in 1962 and the coach was T. Amit. She played as full back and was known for her hard and crispy drives which sent her opponents scurrying for safety. But that's what a full back has to do to clear the ball in manning the last line of defence.

She said at that time there was no Sri Lanka Schools team as such though later on Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya, Bishop's College, Ladies College took to the game.

Baptist Mission School now known as Sanghamiththa Balika Vidyalaya from Matale also played the game. Hardly any girls hockey was played by the Kandy schools but they had a ladies team known as Kandy Whites and in their ranks was that brilliant player Zohora Jumar who captained the country for a number of years.

She said in the seventies there were a number of clubs playing women's hockey and she recalled they were Burgher Recreation Club, Ceylonese Ladies, Matale Ladies, Old Visakhians, the Familians and the Kandy Whites. They had several tournaments like Cyril Reeves, Wynn Jones and Vaithilingam trophy. There was plenty of hockey and the standard was high, there was no hockey nationals for women but the Low Country team played regular matches against the Sri Lanka women's team and the President's Team.

She said there was no astro turf then and they played in grass courts which had uneven bounce and the ball came up unpredictably, they took up this challenge and played and enjoyed the game.

Now there is very little ladies hockey which is being played except for the Sevens tournaments and the forces such as the Navy, Air Force, Army and the Police are helping the women hockey players by providing them with employment and the hockey players are able to remain in the hockey firmament.

She said that she played for Sri Lanka national team from 1968 to 1972 in the Asian Tournaments and she is a national umpire officiating in all matches and was the national ladies coach and presently is the coach of Musaeus College, Colombo.

She has also been the Secretary of the Sri Lanka Schools Hockey Association and is the Women's representative at the Sri Lanka Hockey Federation and also Secretary of the Colombo Schools Hockey Association. She has experience in playing in Malaysia, Thailand, India and Singapore.

Her services has been recognized and she has brought honour to the country by being appointed to the Awards Committee of the USM in Penang, Malaysia for the past ten years and she has been invited for this every year where her knowledge and experience has been highly appreciated. USM stands for University Science of Malaysia.

She is married to Tissa Etipola a sportsman who played rugby and hockey for Kandy Sports Club and later for CR & FC.

A very stern disciplinarian and is very strict and at the same is very kind-hearted and sympathetic towards hockey players. When a player gets injured in the field, she rushes to provide assistance.