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| Sunday, 20 October 2002 |
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Coach Sakunthala livewire behind netball team's success by LESLIE FERNANDO Sri Lanka striking gold in the sport of netball at the Asian Youth Netball Championships in Malaysia is another niche in that field for this island nation. Sri Lanka, had for the record, won it in 1998 and successfully retained the title. As the country looks to taking this women's sport a step further, much of the success that has come is due to the untiring efforts of coach Sakunthala Wijayatunge. Sakunthala has been the live wire having guided the team as coach both in 1998 and this time around. "It was a superb team effort that saw Sri Lanka retain the title. Every member of the team gave their utmost best during the entire championships," said a delighted Sakunthala. She said the team had only 8 days of real training at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium prior to departure. The other significant factor was that 9 of the 12 players carried previous international experience. "Furthermore I had no problems of coaching the team as ten out of 12 of them had been previously coached by me. There were 3 players who played in the 1998 championships and 7 who participated at the World Youth Championships. I had the opportunity to be the coach of the 1998 team as well as the team for the World Youth Championships. It was an easy task to handle the victorious team, as I knew the players' strengths. I only had to pay more attention to increase their playing skills," the coach added. Surangani Wijendra, who was the manager of the team (a former national player and a selector) was a tower of strength to the team. She was a motivator to the entire team and her past playing experience was a plus factor, said Sakunthala, "The key factor was that the team played as one unit. There was no division or personal problems amongst the players as has been the case in past championships where players were faced with problems amongst them as well as with the officials. Thamara Dharmakeerthi Herath, the Interim Committee Chairman of the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka, who took plenty of interest in the team, gave lots of encouragement during their training sessions in Colombo. Seven countries - Sri Lanka, Maldives, Hong Kong (Group 'A), Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, India (Group 'B') participated. Sri Lanka scored convincing victories over Maldives and Hong Kong to become group champions. In the semi-final, Sri Lanka defeated Singapore by 57 goals to 53 while Malaysia beat Maldives. The final was between Sri Lanka and Malaysia and holders Sri Lanka emerged champions defeating their opponents by 66 goals to 55. Sakunthala said that the Sports Minister, Johnston Fernando was very keen that the victorious youth team continue training in the same vein in preparation for the World Championships to be held in 2004. Sakunthala is a Physical Education Teacher attached to Maliyadeva Balika Maha Vidyalaya. She is a A Grade Netball Umpire and completed Basic Level Coaching Course in 1997 and also completed Intermediate Level Coaching Course with a A Grade in 1998. What has stood her in good stead is the wealth of knowledge she carries from having completed the Netball Australia Coach Education Programme at the Australian Institute of Sport in 1997 and a training course at the Australian Institute of Sports for a period of four weeks and a Level 2 course in 2000. Sakunthala has been the coach of Maliyadeva Balika Maha Vidyalaya for 1985 to date (2002). The first coach of the Sri Lanka Schools' Netball team, which participated at the Australian School Netball Tournament, coach of the Sri Lanka Schools' Netball team which took part in the Australian Schools' Netball Tournament. District Coach of Kurunegala District Netball Association, Coach North Western Province Schools' Netball Association, Coach North Western Province Sports School. Sakunthala has helped Maliyadewa BMV to win several major title in several age groups from 1990 to 2001 and the district association and sports clubs in Kurunegala win many titles. Sakunthala said she was very grateful to Mrs. Olivia Gamage, the former Directress of Sports, Education Department who promoted netball in schools which helped her reach the highest standard in coaching. |
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