Sri Lanka has long been considered a powerhouse in the Asian Netball arena. However over the past several years this reputation has slowly begun to slip away.
The team has been unable to reclaim the Asian Championship title since 2009 and this in turn has seen Sri Lanka drop to 24th in the world rankings, behind our Asian counterparts Singapore (17th) and Malaysia (23rd).
The lack of international games has not helped their cause in the least, Sri Lanka’s last international tournament being the Asian Championships held in September last year. It is worrying to see that, with only three months to go, the Sri Lanka Netball Federation (SLNF) is yet to appoint coaching staff and has only just named a 30 member squad for the tournament.
Taking all this into consideration, it is fair to say that the netball administration in Sri Lanka is failing its players. Sri Lanka face an uphill task at the World Championships because they have been grouped alongside Malawi, South Africa and Singapore, ranked 5th, 6th and 17th respectively in the world. They will also have to do at least six months worth of skill training, team building and fitness training in the three remaining months. This is solely due to the fact that the functionality of the SLNF has been almost non-existent, in terms of nurturing the national team, in the past six months.
Speaking to thePapare.com former Sri Lankan skipper Trixie Nanayakkara had this to say “Sri Lanka qualified for the World Championships 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. This sort of thing has never happened before.”
It should, however, be noted that, the recently appointed interim committee, comprising of Lakshmi Victoria, Jayanthi Somasekaran, Trixie Nanayakkara, Sandamali Aviruppola, Kasthuri Wilson, Shevan Perera, Sumithra Wanasinghe, Chithrani Pathiraja, Sakunthala Wijesinghe, Thisangani Shanmuganathan, Rohini Perera and Seetha Ramani, has worked tirelessly to ensure that Sri Lanka fields a team at the World Championships. With the World Championships looming, it is of utmost importance that the good work done in the past month or so, by the interim committee, is not undone by the office bearers who are to be appointed at the SLNF’s AGM to be held on the 29th of April.
The AGM, which was originally scheduled to take place on the 22nd of March, was suspended by the Court of Appeal in response to a petition filed by Trixie Nanayakkara stating that the AGM had been organised in violation of Regulation 29 of the National Sports Law. The petition said that according to the regulation 40 days notice should be given prior to the holding of the AGM. The Annual Report and the list of persons entitled to vote at the AGM should be disclosed with the notice. The audited statements of accounts of the preceding financial year, too, should be made known. Mrs.Nanayakkara pointed out that the AGM scheduled for the 22nd of March, did not comply with these conditions.
There is still some doubt surrounding the AGM to be held on the 29th of April as the validity of the candidacy of some nominees is in question. As it stands, the candidates are as follows:
President – Yasa Ramachandra, Trixie Nanayakkara
Deputy Chair Person – Yasmin Dharmaratne, Manjulika Arunajayasuriya
Vice President – Champa Gunawardene, Shyama Cooray, Prema Kumarihami, Suranthini Sithamparathan, Devi Aponso, Rupa Gunasekara, Muthulakshmi Hegoda, Ranjani Herath, Chithrangani Samarathunga
Secretary – Shiromi Kuruppu, Vajira Pushpamali, Sanjeewani Vanasinghe
Assistant Secretary – Namali Dilrukshi, Renuka Kuruppu
Treasurer – Lalitha De Silva, Sudharma Jayawardene
Assistant Treasurer – Chandana Senerath, Saman Abeywardene
Match Secretary – P. D. N. Prasadhi, Champa Alwis
Assistant Match Secretary – Kumari Gamage
Press Secretary – Priyanthi Weerakkody, Olivia Gamage
It is a widely accepted fact that there are factions within the administrative body itself. However from the views expressed to ThePapare.com by the current interim committee members, it is clear that the growth of the sport is the Federation’s prime objective. The office bearers to be appointed at the AGM, no doubt, have their work cut out to ensure that progress is achieved during their term of office. As well wishers of Sri Lanka Netball, it is our hope too that the team regains its status as heavyweights of Netball in Asia.
