Little acorns planted a mighty oak

Imagine a group of 12-year olds forming a Sri Lanka rugby club that became a national institution :

by Hafiz Marikar

They have lived to see this day and it is all happening. Havelock Sports Club celebrates 100 years today and among its treasured memories is a portrait of a well-drilled champion team that won the first Clifford Cup fit for a king.

The elite club of the common man was founded in 1915 a year that will forever be etched in the history books of what at one time was the most popular rugby club in the country by way of spectator patronage.

Havelocks was born when 27 enthusiastic schoolboys between the ages of 12 and 16 years whose homes were in the vicinity of Havelock Park agreed to organize themselves into a club and thus came the creation of a rugby institution. The inspiration and keenness for all this came from none other than a boy named Roy Joachim who together with the other kids set up the club and perhaps at the time never even dreamed that their juvenile efforts would reach maturity and the club would live to take its place in the front ranks of the local sporting arena to celebrate a 100 years.

The club's Constitution was formulated and Dr. VR Schokman, then president of the Burgher Recreation Club (BRC) was invited to be the first president of Havelocks while Joachim was elected the first secretary and treasurer. To mark the club's centenary, a series of events commenced on Friday and the centerpiece of the celebrations will be on Wednesday when Havelocks will scrum down with CR and FC at 6.30pm at the Park. Some ex-Havelocks members who are residing overseas have also joined in to mark the occasion.

Football, softball cricket and billiards were some of the favoured sports at Havelocks while hockey was introduced at a later stage. Havelocks won many trophies at hockey taking the Andriesz Shield in 1935 and 1960. They won the Pioneer Cup in 1950 and 1955 and were the first winners of the Bacon Cup in 1947.

Gradually interest in rugby grew and became popular overtaking all other activities making Havelocks inseparable from the colonial sport. In 1950 after the Second World War, the Clifford Cup was introduced and Havelocks became the champions in the first ever tournament.

The Clifford Cup has an interesting origin. In 1911 Lady Elizabeth Clifford (the wife of the acting Governor of Ceylon, Sir Hugh Clifford) was interested in the annual rugby fixture between Colombo and the Upcountry and expressed a wish that a match take place in Colombo on her birthday (August 26) between teams representing the Kandy United Services and All Ceylon.

Due to unforeseen circumstances the scheduled date was put off by a week and the first Lady Clifford Cup match (as it was originally called) was played on September 2, 1911 with the Kandy United Services team defeating All Ceylon 25/0. The All Ceylon team was made up of European expatriates while the Kandy United Services team was represented by members of the army and police.

In 1914 the army regiment from which many of the Kandy United Services players were drawn was transferred from Ceylon following the outbreak of World War I. The competition was suspended until 1926 the year in which Sir Hugh Clifford returned to Ceylon as the Governor and Lady Clifford who was keen to revive the Clifford Cup tournament, donated another trophy for the competition in 1926. This time the Clifford Cup was awarded to the winner of a quadrangular tournament.

The competition pitted the Low Country against the Upcountry and Ceylonese against Kandy United Services. The competition then continued until 1938 when it was disrupted by the advent of the Second World War. In 1950 the tournament was converted to an inter-club competition played among eight clubs, Kandy Sports Club, Dimbulla Athletic & Cricket Club, Dickoya Maskeliya Cricket Club, Uva Gymkhana Club, Kelani Valley Club, CR & FC, CH & FC and Havelocks who successfully won the inaugural tournament ending undefeated.

The 1950 champion Havelocks team was made up of Ian Labrooy (captain), BS Henricus, H. Aldons, F. Aldons, HEV Metzelling, E. Aldons, SB Pilapitiya, V. Kelly, A. Drienberg, R. Sourjah, E.Mathaysz, I. Batholamuez, L. Ephrams, D. Ernest and DK Goonewardene.

In the 1920s when Havelocks prospered, they gradually expanded the membership and were in dire need of a ground and a clubhouse. After much hardship, Havelocks obtained the sanction of the Colombo Municipal Council, but were unable to get its support for a permanent building which resulted in a compact cabin-like structure mounted on wheels.

Later in 1922 Walker Sons & Co.Ltd. were entrusted with the construction of a clubhouse for Havelocks and now it speaks volumes of the excellence of their workmanship which has stood the test of time and still stands sound as ever bearing ample testimony. The clubhouse is still exciting and today most of the members drop in for some relaxation or take part in indoor recreation activities. Fellowship and socializing over a drink while discussing the club's achievements and activities are also part and parcel of the culture that is ever-present at Havelocks.

Looking back a century ago it may have been unthinkable to foresee a bunch of schoolboys paving the way for what is today a hallmark of the rugby establishment in Sri Lanka.