Sanath Director of Sports at CMC
by Leslie Fernando
Sanath Weerasooriya, former Thurstan College all-round sportsman has
been appointed as Director of Sports of the Playgrounds and Recreation
Department of the Colombo Municipal Council on the orders of Governor
Western Provincial Council Alavi Maulana.
Weerasooriya joined the Colombo Municipality in 1986 as a Supervising
Playground Instructor and rose to this prestigious post with lot of
dedication and hard work.
He succeeds Trixie Nanayakkara, who held the post for several years.
This prestigious post was earlier known as Chief Playground
Instructor. This position was held by top sportsmen and administrators
namely, late D. S. Abraham, P. W. R. de Silva, former Sri Lanka
cricketers D. H. de Silva and Anuruddha Polonovita.
Weerasooriya said that if sports and recreation is part and parcel of
the development program of a nation, the Colombo Municipal Council can
be happy about its sports and recreation program for the city.
He further added that the sports complex of the Colombo Municipal
Council, the Playgrounds and Recreation Department (the first State
organisation for Sports in Sri Lanka) led by Late B. A. Jayasinghe, the
Municipal Commissioner, launched a sports movement 42 years ago which
has developed into a national sports movement to raise the standard of
performances in sports and make sports a medium to achieve national
development.
The Municipality administers 41 community centres and 31 playgrounds
which provide indoor and outdoor games like table tennis, chess, carrom,
draught, wrestling, and physical culture, cricket, soccer, volleyball,
netball, basketball and athletics.
The stage is set for the Council to take sports to every doorstep
that could make Colombo a 'City of Sports' as is being done in many
cities of the world.
Sports is an index to the development of society. Playgrounds and
Recreation Department with able assistance from the Council will be in a
position to perform this development task. |