Rugby workshop in Galle

Following the success of the awareness programme conducted in Jaffna, the Sabaragamuwa Stallions took the initiative to organise a rugby workshop in Galle this weekend. The workshop was conducted at St. Aloysius Collage Galle with over 80 students participating across diverse age groups that also included the 1st 15 side of the school. A class room session was conducted for the parents and students followed by a field session for the students. It aimed to create awareness of the sport while encouraging take-up among the younger students of the school. It also aimed to create awareness among parents, thereby encouraging them to support the sport and its take-up.

The sessions conducted comprised of a class room session that taught the students the importance of sports and its positive impact on a student in the long-term, while the field sessions focused on skills development. The sessions were conducted under the guidance of veteran coach Tony Amit with the assistance of Shantha Dharmarathne the junior rugby coach of Zahira College.

Beginning his career in Rugby at Zahira College in Colombo, Tony Amit was the Captain of the Zahira College team and CH & FC. Subsequently he played for the Sri Lanka National Rugby team in and also functioned as the National coach for the Sri Lankan rugby team that won numerous international titles, including four cups; namely in Taiwan, Fiji Sevens, Cargills Sevens in Sri Lanka and Alain in Dubai. Further, he was also an Assessor Evaluator for IRB and world cup qualifying

rounds and functioned as a Match Commissioner for the World Cup qualifying round. Tony is a qualified referee both locally and internationally and was the President of the Sri Lanka Referees Society and the Asian Referees Society.

Speaking at the event, Waruna de Silva, Director Operations of the Sabaragamuwa Stallions mentioned that workshop was conducted in line with the next Carlton Sevens that is scheduled to be held in Galle.

He stated that, "together with the Assistant Principal of St. Aloysius Collage Galle, Sarath Ranaweera, the Sabaragamuwa Stallions felt that a programme of this nature will give students an opportunity to understand the benefits of sports and how it adds value and enrich their lives, while also encouraging more students to take up rugby at school level.

This is the third such event organised by the Sabaragamuwa Stallions. A similar event was also held at S Thomas' Collage Mt. Lavinia in June 2012, where the junior rugby players of the school got the opportunity to meet the four All Blacks players who represented the Sabaragamuwa Stallions at the Carlton Rugby Seven's 2012. Subsequently, a workshop was organised together with the Security Forces Headquarters - Jaffna at the Duraiappa Stadium in Jaffna. Over 80 students from 7 schools in the area participated in this workshop that included both classroom and field sessions. Additionally, a workshop was also conducted for the coaches of the schools with the intent of raising the standard of rugby while improving their coaching skills.