Tissa Kodituwakku, Director of Sports CMC

By Leslie Fernando

GENERAL: Tissa Kodituwakku - former Benedictine and Sri Lanka reputed soccerite has been rightly appointed as the Director of Sports of the Playgrounds and Recreation Department of the Colombo Municipal Council. He richly deserves this appointment after having served the Council for the past 35 years.

The appointment was made by the Local Government Services Commission.

In the good old days, this post was known as the Chief Playground Instructor and had been held by versatile sportsmen like D. S. Abraham, P. W. R. de Silva, D. H. de Silva, Anuruddha Polonowita, Trixie Nanayakkara and Sanath Weerasooriya.

Tissa said that his primary aim is to raise the standard of performances in sports in the Colombo City's Community Centres and Playgrounds.

The Playground Movement was a tremendous success between 1960 and 1980 (during the time of Late B. A. Jayasinghe, Municipal Commissioner, CMC, who was truly a great lover of sports. The success and achievements of Playgrounds and Community Centres in all types of sports was an indication of the active participation of the community to the Council's efforts.

It was heartening to note that many national champions of Sri Lanka received initial training in the Council's Playgrounds and Community Centres in the sports that they cherished. Some of the boys and girls who were brought up in the playgrounds and community centres have not only shown their process in contests in Sri Lanka but even on the international scene.

Tissa was a fine soccer player (one of the best strikers at the game) during his school days and earned a place in the Sri Lanka national team. In addition to being a player, Tissa was a qualified coach and a good administrator too.

He captained St. Benedict's, National Youth team, Colombo Municipality, Ratnam SC, Sri Lanka National team, Government Services, City FL and Colombo FL. He played for national team from 1971 to 1978.