Sports

Sports

Kelani Valley Club between the devil and the deep blue sea
By S.R.Pathiravithana
Walking down the hall looking at the cupboards full of memorabilia that has stood its ground from the time of the white sahib, the Kelani Valley Club at Talduwa, speaks of a rich history that is over one hundred years old.

The club itself is situated in a place that is embellished with historical value. It is situated adjacent to the place where King Seethawaka Rajasinghe was injured when a thorn pricked him and was ferried back to his castle prior to his death, while in battle with the invading Portuguese army.

The then planters of the area as a recreational point formed the Kelani Valley Club way back in 1884 with F. Duncan as its first president. It was a water-hole where all English planters used to meet up with their brethren and spend Sundays with their kith and kin. Now the club is in the hands of the Sri Lankan planters who are carrying on with the traditions handed down to them, but with a very local flavour. Besides this, personalities in the caliber of Ken Balendra and Lionel Almeida have also turned out for this club in their planting days.

At present at the helm of activities at the Kelani Valley Club is young dynamic planter Niroshana Illangaratne who has been handed the task of bringing the Club back to its past glory. His task is not an enviable one. Not only has he been entrusted with the task of what was mentioned before, but he also has the task of warding off several take over attempts.

Speaking of the tasks at hand youthful Niroshana began "This club not only serves as the Planters Club of the area. This club is the recreational point of the Avissawella area where nearly one thousand children from around fifteen schools come and play their favourite game - rugby. The Club has been such an influence on the young ones of the vicinity, no one has taken up the game of cricket, but they have taken up to the game of rugby. You can walk on to the club ground on any given day in the evening; you can find children at practices. This is part of their lives. They grow up here. They play the game here. As a result, some of them find employment too. In all these activities the Club and its generosity play a vital part.

Rugby is not a male domain here in Avisawella. There is a huge turn out for practices for girls rugby teams and here we produce some pretty good ones including the present Sri Lanka women's team captain Rukshani Ariyasena. Now she has become Sri Lanka's first women's rugby referee too. Besides that she and another three girls have found employment in the Seethawaka Industrial Park -that is also through the Club. Besides the above, at present we are the 'C' division champions of the SLRFU and the champions of the Sabaragamuwa divisional rugby tournament.

The Present captain of the Kelani Valley Club is Mahesh Kurukulasuriya who earlier represented Kingswood College first XV. I, along with Mahesh and our rugby coordinator D. J. Ratwatte get the maximum support from the SLRFU through former CR player Arjun Dharmadasa where the coaching part is concerned and other members of the club who play the role of philanthropists towards the development of rugby in the area.

The Club's women's team has won over seven trophies so far. Even in the men's team majority of the players are from the area and one player who represented us in rugby is at present doing very well in the Air Force and a little while ago he was a regular member in the Air Force rugby team. Besides him, there are four others who also have turned out for the Air Force after beginning their careers here.

Though we work hand-in-hand with the people of the area the club is running through a turbulent period. From the inception the playground of the club was on a 99-year lease and in 1999 it was over. We have the title deed for the Club House and the other land adjacent to the club barring the playground itself. Our troubles began at this juncture. Suddenly newspaper articles started appearing crying out the ground is in a state of utter disrepair etc…etc.

Then suddenly the Pradeshiya Saba passed a resolution taking over the playground and the Club Premises, but we were fortunate enough to get a stay order on that. But, all what we do may be temporary, what we want to say is that this club and its environ is for the children of the area. This is a facility that we have extended towards their well being on our own. The planters who patronise this club spend their own money towards the upkeep of the rugger teams and their well being including the cost of travelling for matches and clothing.

This is besides what we spend for the up keep of the ground. We do not get any allocation from the SLRFU or the Sports ministry for all this. If some one takes this over no one will know how long this ground will last, as it finally may be lost to everyone. Then who will be the ultimate losers?" said an exasperated Niroshana in conclusion.

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