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| Sunday, 9 November 2003 |
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At OBSERVER - CALTEX Rugby Awards ceremony .... : Club rugby structure must be looked into closely - Mohan Balasuriya by A.C. DE SILVA Mohan Balasuriya - the President of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union seems to be a down to earth person as far as rugby football is concerned. Speaking at the third awards ceremony of the Observer-Caltex Rugby Contest at the 36th Floor of World Trade Centre on Thursday night, Balasuriya said that with the sponsorship of rugby by Caltex, the sport has come a long way and that had enabled the schools to forge ahead. However, Balasuriya sounded a note of caution as far as the clubs are concerned. "The school's structure is very strong with about 80 schools playing the game and around 60 playing in the top grade. However, there is something to worry about in the fact that there is only eleven 'A' division clubs playing the game," he said. The club structure has to be looked into and efforts are being made to rectify the shortcomings and have an achievable plan with the 2013 World Cup Rugby Tournament in mind. But before the World Cup Tournament in 2013, Sri Lanka will focus attention on the 2006 Asian Tournament to be held in Sri Lanka. "If we come within the first three, we have a chance to get into the World Cup in 2013". According to the SLRFU boss Balasuriya, there has to be planned progress and first and foremost there has to be professionalism introduced to the administration. "Right now there are about 90 per cent who do honorary work, but that is not enough, we have to have a full professional look to advance," he said. The set up has to be fully organised so that the game can be spread far and wide and there is every indication that it could be achieved with the support of everyone plus the encouraging sponsorship of Caltex. It takes around 15 years to build up an international level team and speaking about the Asian region Sri Lanka must make some progress to qualify to be among the 16 countries for the World Cup. Now, women have taken to rugby football in a big way and what is quite pleasing is the fact that rural women have taken to the sport in a big way. "I am not an expert on women's affairs. With rugby football being a physical contact game, the men fall down and when women fall most of them seem to damage their wrists. So this has to looked into and on the women's front, the game must be made popular in Colombo and other popular towns. Kishu Gomes - the Managing Director of Caltex Lubricants Lanka Limited said that the year 2003 was a great year for rugby football in Sri Lanka. The game has regained its lost prestige but also surpassed the status of glory it has reached several years ago. By his assessment, if there was a competition to select the best game for this year, rugby football, no doubt would have won that crown. From every aspect, the game gained ground. According to the Caltex boss, some areas that clearly showed improvement were: 1. The entry of foreign players to clubs helped the local players to improve their technical abilities. These players set new standards for the local boys to emulate. 2. There was live coverage for key matches of the tournament and the print media too gave fine coverage which encouraged the players. 3. Besides the two tournaments Caltex sponsored, there were few other tournaments that Caltex conducted attracting attention for the game. 4. There were encouraging spectator participation and at the final there were over 5,000 spectators. 5. There were international tournaments played in Sri Lanka, 6. The game was taken to new regions - to schools and clubs in the outstations and villages. However, at this point there is a note of caution. "We have a long way to go with the game. Though we have come a long way, there is still a long way to go' The day we can be satisfied is the day when the Sri Lankan team start winning the international matches. The journey undoubtedly is a difficult one. But with hard work the ultimate objective can be achieved. There is so much enthusiasm for the game in the outstations and the day when village boys play rugby football on paddy fields, coconut estates, empty streets and beaches deep down South, North and East will be the day there will be a search and finally find, incubate and graduate the right talent that can win international matches will not be very far. Kishu Gomes thanked the SLRFU headed by Mohan Balasuriya and his team for the fine work done to bring the game to a high level and Caltex achieved their objectives fully in the year 2003. Lakshman Gunasekera - Editor Sunday Observer said that in years gone by, rugby football was considered a sport for the elite, but it is no so now. Rugby Football is now a sport for the people and more competitions will improve the quality of the game. |
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