EXCELLING with Flair at AEROBICS

Nadee Kumari,Sandunika Navanjali,Imasha Tharindi with their medals and certificates

From left:Indika Thushara(Trainer), Nadee Kumari, Imasha Tharindi, Sandunika Navanjali, Irosha Lakmini(Trainer) after winning the bronze medals

From (left) -Nadee Kumari,Sandunika Navanjali, Imasha Tharindi Seated from (left)-Indika Thushara(Trainer), Irosha Lakmini(Trainer), Pushpika Banduvansha(Principal), Chandani Pathirana(Vice Principal), I P Pathmalatha (Judge)

Gymnastic related sports are often considered as an arena where only Chinese and Japanese were able to excel. To be able to stand par with the best, and compete for glory and eventually winning silverware for your efforts is by no means an easy feat. Little known trio from Mahamaya Balika Vidyalaya Kadawatha, did just that as they fought with the best in the sport with flair and exuberance to bring glory to the country at recently concluded Asian Aerobic Gymnastic Competition. Despite minimum facilities, they strove for excellence with sheer hard work, enthusiasm and youthful fervor to bring prestige to their school and country.

Against all odds, the trio Sandunika Navanjali, Nadee Kumari and Imasha Tharindi showcased their talents to surpass much fancied East Asian teams to win Bronze medals at the competition in under fifteen age category. Sharing her joy with Punch Sandunika Navanjali noted, “It was a great experience, facilities were excellent over there. It feels great to win a medal and bring glory to the school.”

The chief architect of school’s rise to the top at Aerobic sports is school’s physical training tutor Irosha Lakmini, who initiated Aerobic as a sport at school level back in 2004. Since then, girls from Mahamaya Balika Vidyalaya have achieved excellence in Aerobic gymnastics. Mentored by skilled physical training tutors in Irosha and Indika Thushara, the students have been performing admirably well both at national and international level.

They have been consistent performers at national level, and boasts of numerous accolades and achievements to their name which includes winning ‘All Island National Aerboic Gymnastic Women’s Championship’ for three consecutive years in 2009, 2010 and 2011. At 2008 all island Milo Colours Award ceremony, athlete Nadeesha Nivanthika from Mahara Mahamaya Vidyala were given colours for her excellent performance in Aerobic sport. Then in 2010 Sakura Nadeeshani and Sanduni Venurika were also given colours for their performances.

However, the most impressive stat about their performance is the way in which they broke boundaries and strove for greatness at international level- their most staggering feat at an international event being winning 96 medals at 2011 Indian Gymnastic Tournament. To add to their medal tally, they have won two Silver medals at Asian Gymnastic tournament which was held in Hong Kong 2010. Then in the next Asian Aerobic tournament which was held in Vietnam, three athletes from Mahamaya Balika Vidyalaya were able to win silver medals.

They have also showcased their exuberant aerobic talents at special events such as the opening ceremony of Asian athletic games where they demonstrated their Aerobic gymnastic skills with flair to capture the hearts of those that attended the ceremony.

Though the school has achieved so much in Aerobics, the kids are yet to have a proper gymnasium to practice the sport. “We do all our practices with minimum facilities, when we go outside of the country, we can clearly the see the difference, it would be great if our students are provided with proper facilities which would help us to stay consistent at international level,” Irosha Lakmini, the physical training tutor commented. Also, the money and funds which were needed to participate at international events were collected with great difficulty with parents contributing to cover all expenses.

The principal Pushpika Banduwansha, Vice Principal Chandani Pathirana, and other staff members have also been very supportive towards student’s participation in such events and have been a great guiding force behind their achievements. The credit should also be given to team’s custodian Shanthi Amarasinghe.

Speaking to Punch, the Principal Pushpika Banduwansha noted, “It is important that they do studies and extra-curricular activities in a balanced manner. As long as it doesn’t harm their studies, we do support them, and the students have been able to bring great glory to the school in past few years.