Canadian shuttle coach Dharshana Fernando to coach Sri Lankans

by Kapila SOMARATNE-Panadura Group Corr.

BADMINTON: The Dharshana Fernando Badminton Academy in Canada is done a real good job. The founder and head coach of the academy is delighted with the progress of the coaching from the beginning and it has turned out to do some coaching conforming to high standards.

Coach Fernando who is now in Canada was a former national player in Sri Lanka and is now a recognised coach in Canada. Recently he was selected as the coach for the Toronto team for the Ontario Winter Games in March. He has followed coaching programmes for coaches in Malaysia and China and in July this year he was invited by a leading badminton school in Denmark to coach at an international coaching program.

During his European tour, he also visited Sweden, the Czech Republic and Belgium and conducted classes.

He had the opportunity to meet world renowned players including Jonas Rasmussen - a partner of world doubles champion. Dharshana Fernando said that the new techniques and methods he learned in Europe will be made use of in his coaching programs in Canada.

The Fernando academy has around 100 students. Coach Fernando is full of thanks to his school in Sri Lanka - St. Thomas' Preparatory School in Bandarawela for teaching him the "A,B,C" of badminton in the late 60s. Dharshana Fernando feels that with the dawn of peace in Sri Lanka under the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, all expat Sri Lankans should get together and work together for the benefit of the country. Fernando who is a marketing and a banking professional, said that he decided to assist talented youth in Sri Lanka by way of offering sponsorship package and even getting them international training in badminton.

He hopes to have a branch academy of his badminton school in the near future in Sri Lanka. He has picked on Nakan. International School in Horana Road, Bandaragama and another coaching school in Moratuwa to begin his program.

To get the people interested in developing badminton in Sri Lanka he got his daughter Piumika present badminton equipment to up-and-coming players to have them interested in the sport.