Well respected and near iconic rugby coach Ronny Ibrahim has decided to halt his coaching and has confirmed that he will step down from his post of head coach of the Navy SC at the end of the year.
Ibrahim one of the most esteemed coaches in the Island has been in the forefront of many schools and clubs during the recent past and has been instrumental in turning out of Sri Lanka’s finest ruggerites.
Speaking to ThePapare Ibrahim said, “I have decided to step down as a coach due to personal reasons and will be stepping down at the end of the year after the inter club sevens tournament for at least a period of two years”.
The rugby guru, has an immaculate track record especially in schools rugby and his career best was during his stint with his alma mater Kingswood College from the years 2003-06. Under his coaching Kingswood managed to win the Triple Crown for three consecutive years in 2003, 04 and 05. They also managed to win a number of sevens tournament including the Singer 7’s and All Island sevens titles. The team under Eranda Weerakkoda (2005) won all their matches on offer and to date is one of the best teams Kingswood has ever produced. The former Kingswoodian was a part of some of the most destructive Kingswood teams in the last decade which produced some superstars of rugby
Rony, a proud product of Kingswood College Kandy, is the third of six brothers. All six who played with great distinction for their alma mater went on to play for Kandy SC. Some of them even had the privilege of turning out for the national side. Rony captained the Kingswood College rugby team in 1987. His brothers Roy Ibrahim, Rinnie Ibrahim and Nilufer Ibrahim too captained Kingswood and with that set a record at Kingswood College.
After his impressive run during the 2009 rugby season he was appointed coach of the Sri Lanka sevens team which participated in the Shanghai sevens tournament under the captaincy of Ashen Karthelis.
During his time in the club arena, Navy was the team he carried to higher stratum culminating in them beating Kandy SC for the first time while managing to also to win against CR&FC that same year. Navy has thus far managed to stay within the first 3 teams in the league (2009-3rd place, 2010-3rd place, 2011-2nd place, 2012-3rd place) and has also impressed during the knock out tournaments (2010 & 2011 runner up).
“I started coaching Navy in 2009 and they have done a pretty decent job so far in the league. It will be easier for the incoming coach as the players are quite experience and have played together as a unit for quite some time now”.
Ibrahim has produced nearly 50 national players which speaks volumes about his capabilities as a coach and for the first time in history Navy SC under his supervision produced over 20 players for National duty in a year. Amongst some of the high profile players he coached, the current Sri Lanka skipper Fazil Marija, Achala Perera, Dev Anand, Aravinda Udangamuwa, Rizmeer Jabbar, Roshan and Gayan Weeraratne, Naveen Wijetunga, Eranda Weerakkody, Gayan Ratnage, Heshan Premaratne, Akram Rifa, PiyumalManchanayake, Ruchira Rathnage and RizwanNazar to name a few. According to Ibrahim, Fazil Marija was the best player he produced.
ThePapare also managed to speak with Fazil Marija to get his thoughts on his former coach’s retirement and he said, “It will be a big loss for rugby! He a good coach and he understands the game really well. Earlier I used to play on the wing and also at scrum half but it was because of him that I shifted to playing at Fly half and I still thank him for that”.
Havelock’s SC skipper Terrence Henry when asked about Ibrahim said, “He is a very good tactical coach, and a very good human being!”
ThePapare also managed to get views from a player in his existing squad, Sri Lanka full back Rizah Mubark who said, “He is one of the coolest coaches! He gives the players the freedom to make their own decisions and in return we have learnt a lot. He’s a coach who always believes in second chances and looks at everything from a player’s point of view and it’s a big loss to us”.
Ibrahim started his coaching career at under 13 level in 2000 at Kingswood and went on to coach the senior side from 2003-6. He then went on to S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia where he spent two years and then shifted to the club circuit to resurrect Navy rugby.
“I won’t be completely out of the game and club! I will always support the club and rugby as a whole”, ended Ibrahim.
ThePapare.com salutes the master for the yeoman service to the Nation’s rugby. Readers may place their appreciation at the bottom of this article or send to [email protected]
