Sri Lanka Netball Federation is in the process of assembling a squad for the World Cup which will be held in Sydney, Australia in August.
The Netball Federation Interim Committee decided to conduct a spate of talent identification trials to scout for players for the World Netball Championship 2015 to be held from 7th – 16th August. The trials were held in Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Jaffna, Polonnaruwa and Badulla giving ample opportunity for the players across the island to showcase their talent and make a bid for the national squad.
A three member panel which includes a Sri Lanka selector, former Sri Lanka player and interim committee member were involved in every trial locations. The Sports Ministry appointed a selection committee which comprises of Chairperson Chandrani Pathiraja, Sakunthala Wijethunga, Seetha Ramani, Thisangani Kodituwakku, Rohini Perera
“Selectors went to different places. They looked at footwork, basic skills and more. Former captains – Priyanka Peiris (’85-‘87), Asha Perera (’87). They have the experience representing Sri Lanka in international arena.” Interim Committee member and former National Captain Trixie Nanayakkara added exclusively with ThePapare.com.
Sri Lanka qualified for the World Championship after being runners-up in the 9th Asian Championships in 2014. However since then there has been no tournament international or local where the players were involved in.
“For the past 6 months netball has been dead. No competitions. We don’t know about players. We only have 3 months. This sort of thing has never happened before. Last time we
played in World Championship in 2011 we were 14th in the world but now we are 24th. We are trying to resurrect the game” she went onto say.
“Coaches are also selected. Applications closed on the 18th. Since it is 3 months we are selecting three coaches – center coach, shooters coach, defense coach.” She added.
The selected players from the 6 trial locations will have final selections on the 25th & 26th of April at the St.Joseph’s Indoor Complex.
