Schools netball finals in Polonnaruwa

Yasaratne GAMAGE

The finals of Sri Lanka Schools Netball Championships 2012 sponsored by Milo will be held at the National ground Kaduruwela, Polonnaruwa from July 28 to 30.

This year as usual Sri Lanka Schools Netball Association and the Sports Ministry have orgainzed the mega event.

The earlier stages in the tournament was held in 16 centres with the participation or 1035 teams in the A division while 800 teams vied in the maiden B division. This year netballers from schools of less than 1000 students were selected.

The opening ceremony of the final stage will be held on July 28 at 9am with the participation of Lands and Land Development deputy minister Srirpala Gamlath at The Kaduruwela National Stadium. The Health Minister , Maithreepala Sirisena will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony , on July 30 at 3pm .

This was revealed at a press conference held recently at CR and FC auditorium where the Milo Netball Champions Trophy was handed over to SLSNA president , the principal of Gothama BMV, Colombo, Soma Munasinghe.

First round matches in the Puttalam, Matara and Kurunegala centres were not held due to unavailability of some players following their commitment in foreign tours revealed SLNA . The postponed matches will be held this week end.

Speaking at the occasion Nestle Lanka assistant vice president ,corporate affairs Bandula Egodage, said the participation of many teams had shown a big improvement than the previous years and invited other remaining schools to take part in the competition next year. Addressing the media Soma Munasinghe said that participation in the age groups , under 14 and 16 were recorded to be higher when compared to the participation in under 18.

The adult students who are sitting for the A/ L exam in August are in this age category and as a result there has been less participation. Taking this as an experience next year fixtures will be convenient for all ages in terms of participation , siad Munasinghe.

SLSNA secretary Sudharma Jayawardena pointed out that the participation from outstation schools saw the fact as one step towards the development of netball in Sri Lanka. She also assured that the venue for the final stage, Polonnaruwa is already for the event and there will not be any scarcity of water as speculated earlier.

We have thoroughly inspected the site and we are confident that accommodation and other facilities including food and water will be fine, she added. The players will be put up in Royal College, Polonnaruwa, Thopawala MV, Bandiwewa MV, Seevali Modal School and Muslim MMV, Jayawardena said.