Versatile sports girl Ayeshani Weerakkody has done Mahamaya proud!

by Upananda JAYASUNDERA, Kandy Sports Special Corr.

HOCKEY: Sri Lanka Schools Hockey Association will send an under-18 girls hockey team to play in the Second Asian Girls Hockey Championship to be held from July 18 to 26 in Shanghai, China. The team is expected to leave on July 16.

Included in the team is a versatile girl Ayeshani Wishwamitra Weerakkody of Mahamaya Girls School, Kandy.

Besides hockey, this girl has participated in a number of other sports. She is in the Mahamaya athletic and swimming teams and is also learning `Kunfu’ under her coach Anura Dissanayake.

She is also the Games Captain of Mahamaya and has also completed a course for Youth Umpires and Coaches conducted by the Sri Lanka Hockey Federation and the National Institute of Sports Science at the Ministry of Sports in Colombo.

It has been at hockey that Ayeshani has really excelled. She took to hockey as a 11-year-old and has captained the under-13, 15 and under-19 teams at school level. She toured Malaysia for the `Penang International Tournament’ as captain of the Sri Lanka Schools Six-a-Side team in 2005.

Then in 2006, she toured Singapore with the Sri Lanka Schools Team and scored 2 goals in the final against Hong Kong and won a Gold Medal.

Hockey had caught her liking early in life and she has been a member of the Kandy girls hockey teams from 2005 to 2009 in age groups under-13, 15, 17 and 19. Besides her sports activities, Ayeshani is a bright student and she is doing her higher studies in the commerce stream and at the moment is following a course in IT. She is the President of the School IT Club.

Sri Lanka girls schools team

Jeewanthi Fernando (Visakha Vidyalaya), Kushani Nethmini Jayasinghe (Gothami, Colombo), Ayeshani Vishwamitra Weerakkody (Mahamaya, Kandy) Dilani Karunanayake (Christ Church, Matale), Tharaka Karunaratne (Seethadevi, Kandy), Navoda Agalakotuwa (Mahamaya, Kandy), Ashwini Madanayake (Visakha, Colombo), Iresha Bokalagoda (Vijaya College, Matale), Harshani Wickremasinghe (Seethadevi, Kandy), Dulanjali Mandawala (Ladies College, Colombo), Keshani Herath (Anthony’s Balika, Kandy), Kusahthika Themiyadasa (Vijaya College, Matale), Lushani Mahanama (Sangamitta, Matale), Chaturika Premasiri (Sangamitta, Matale), Lakmini Wijesundera (Pushpadana, Kandy).

Ishara Sandamali (Pushpadana, Kandy), Manisha Welaratne (Visakha, Colombo), Helmini Jayaratne (President’s College, Nawala).

Standbyes: Pathumi Abeysinghe (Anthony’s Balika, Kandy), Nayomi Seneviratne (Anthony’s Balika, Kandy), Moyandi Udugama (Visakha, Colombo), Rishni Perera (Sirimavo Bandaranaike MV, Colombo).

The above selections were made after three trials were held at Matale Nandimithra Grounds.