Sanath Director of Sports at CMC

by Leslie Fernando

Sanath Weerasooriya, former Thurstan College all-round sportsman has been appointed as Director of Sports of the Playgrounds and Recreation Department of the Colombo Municipal Council on the orders of Governor Western Provincial Council Alavi Maulana.

Weerasooriya joined the Colombo Municipality in 1986 as a Supervising Playground Instructor and rose to this prestigious post with lot of dedication and hard work.

He succeeds Trixie Nanayakkara, who held the post for several years.

This prestigious post was earlier known as Chief Playground Instructor. This position was held by top sportsmen and administrators namely, late D. S. Abraham, P. W. R. de Silva, former Sri Lanka cricketers D. H. de Silva and Anuruddha Polonovita.

Weerasooriya said that if sports and recreation is part and parcel of the development program of a nation, the Colombo Municipal Council can be happy about its sports and recreation program for the city.

He further added that the sports complex of the Colombo Municipal Council, the Playgrounds and Recreation Department (the first State organisation for Sports in Sri Lanka) led by Late B. A. Jayasinghe, the Municipal Commissioner, launched a sports movement 42 years ago which has developed into a national sports movement to raise the standard of performances in sports and make sports a medium to achieve national development.

The Municipality administers 41 community centres and 31 playgrounds which provide indoor and outdoor games like table tennis, chess, carrom, draught, wrestling, and physical culture, cricket, soccer, volleyball, netball, basketball and athletics.

The stage is set for the Council to take sports to every doorstep that could make Colombo a 'City of Sports' as is being done in many cities of the world.

Sports is an index to the development of society. Playgrounds and Recreation Department with able assistance from the Council will be in a position to perform this development task.