Seetha Devi Balika Vidyalaya - a clean sweep of all girls schools tournaments

by S. M. Jiffrey ABDEEN - Kandy Sports Corr.

HOCKEY: Seetha Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Kandy proved their dominance in the field of hockey by winning all three top tournaments conducted for girls schools by the Kandy District schools last year. In the under 15 tournament Seetha Devi Balika were joint champions with St. Anthony's Girls College, Kandy. They also won the under 19 championship by defeating their traditional rivals Pushpadana Girls College 2-0 in the finals.

They are once again coached by Sri Lanka's junior coach M. A. M. Ashroff who, having introduced this sport to hitherto unknown Seetha Devi Balika Vidyalaya in 1991 has held on to it for the past 20 years. His unbroken run could be a record in an era in which added incentives and better payment lures a coach to shift loyalties. He is assisted by another top hockey player and umpire from the hills Nadaraja Paraneetharan.

This year the only tournament in which Seetha Devi Balika Vidyalaya could not lift the championship title was in the girls under 13 and this was due to no fault of theirs as the tournament was not conducted by the Hockey Association.

This tournament for 2010 was completed in 2011 and Seetha Devi BV emerged joint-champions with St. Anthony's Girls College.

Hockey captains

This year, Seetha Devi BV hockey teams were captained by the following: Under 15 - Sapuni Gamage, Under 17 - Samudra Chandraratne, Under 19 - Nirmani de Silva.

Seetha Devi's record in the local hockey scene is very impressive, having won the under 19 championship 12 times since 1992. They have won the under 17 championship many times including a six-years-in-a- row at present.

They have also lifted the under 12 championship 12 times since 1992. Seetha Devi's performance in the under 13 championship is very impressive having won it nearly 15 times, said coach Ashroff.

All-island tourneys

All-island tournaments: They have won the schools "plum" the All-island Schools under 19 championship at the Schools Sports Festival seven times since 1991 - perhaps the most number of times by any school during this period.

They have also won the all-island Under 17 championship for five years. However, their best record is in the under 15 championship for girls where they have become champions 15 times since 1989.