When schoolboy Roy Joachim gathered few of his mates together to form a sporting club within themselves way back in 1915 with the sole purpose of playing some friendly rugby, he would have not imagined that his juvenile efforts will continue to prevail for decades being a front runner in the local competitive stage going on to celebrate its centenary this year.
One of the oldest clubs in the country, Havelocks Sports Club has been a silent contributor in the Sri Lankan sports arena over the past century grooming generations of sportsmen doing yeomen service.
Sixteen year old schoolboy Roy Joachim takes the honor of being the founder of Havelocks Sports Club. His keenness and enthusiasm shown brought together a bunch of 27 teenagers, all within the ages of 12-16 who lived in the vicinity of Havelock Park (currently Havelock Town) to join together to form a sporting club. His intentions were very straightforward; to bring together his neighboring mates and for camaraderie.
Building on the foundation set by Joachim, Havelocks Sports Club was built on the principles of camaraderie and sportsmanship and in the year 1920, Havelocks Sports Club entered to play competitive rugby.
Havelock’s Sports Club has been a front runner in the rugby field in the country since the inception of the sport and dominated the game in the 1960-1980’s era. It was the breeding ground for most of the young school leavers who later enlisted themselves at Havelocks to progress forward in the sport.
Havelock’s deeds date back to the post world war II era where rugby was revived and the club went on to become Clifford cup champions for two consecutive years in 1950 & 1951. History books read that no team had the privilege of surpassing the Havelocks defense.
Rugby had been the most preferred sport in the club while other sports such as Hockey and Football were nurtured in the late 1950’s. The club got its facelift in the 1960’s with 
many of the old Peterites and Trinitians joining the force to play rugby. The school boy talent fixed the missing pieces in the Havies puzzle with notable mentions such as Ken De Joodt, Nihal Dias De Singhe & Vernon Boteju opting to wear the Havelocks jersey bringing the club back into the spotlight ending its ten year drought with Hubert Aloysius lifting the silverware.
The 1960’s & the 1970’s were the golden decades for the club in Colombo 5 winning 9 league titles that came in the years 1961,63,64,67,68 & 1970,74,76,77. Havelocks take the credit of producing excellent national material such as Michael Jayasekara, Hisham Abdeen, Sanjeewa Jayasinghe and Rajeev Gnapathy.
The pre 2000 era proved out to be a let-down for the Havelocks but affairs took a different turn in the past few years with former CR &FC and national player Asanga Seneviratna who is the current president of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union investing his interests in the age old club, bringing the diminished glory back. Havelocks has undergone steady revival in the recent past with a newly revamped state of the art stadium built in the vicinity of the old Havelock Park ground and coming back in to rugby arena to be a top contender.
The gentlemen from Havelock Park in their newly revamped outfit stormed back into the competitive rugby stage in the country in a conquest to bring back the diminished glory with back home. The Henry Terence’s 2013 Havelocks XV succeeded in their mission breaking the hoodoo as the League crown travelled to Colombo from Kandy after a lapse of 14 years.
At this juncture where the club celebrates a century in sport, the Club’s contribution to the sport is invaluable. Havelocks Sports Club will thus celebrate its centenary in grand style with a series of events lined up. The official celebration will start on Friday, the 28th of August and will later conclude with a dinner dance at the on the 4th of September.
The dream what Roy Joachim saw a century back still continues to live fourth regardless of the changes in time and generation. Even past the hundred year mark, the club operates in the very principles of its founders. Havelock’s golden jubilee publication in 1965 gives us an insight to Havelock Sports Club’s foundation. “A club started by school boys fifty years ago has achieved the position it occupies in Sports today and has maintained its tradition for Sportsmanship and Good Fellowship because of the enthusiasm and special loyalty and cooperation shown by its members throughout the years. Politics or Race or Creed never had any part or place during the Club’s first half century. These have no place in sport and may the Club continue to be a center for Sportsmen and Sportsmanship for the next fifty years too”
We hope the Park Club continues to flourish in the years to come and ThePapare.com extends it best wishes this rugby mob on this occasion.
