Sri Lanka sevens rugby has proven to be a success -Haris Omar
A faded old rugby jersey awarded in 1967 was carefully folded and preserved to enlighten a fathers (Isvan Omar) dream came true when his son Haris Omar who eagerly watched it being deprived of even touching it, to a legacy of achievement in a game passioately battled with some sense of elegance. A rare product of our Rugby heritage an individual who had the honour of leading every 1st XV team that was on offer as a national rugby player. Haris Omar or referred as the Gentle Giant is a product of Trinity College Kandy.Haris captained his school team and home town club Kandy Sports Club during its most treasured landmark years. In 1995 the 1st Leg of the Bradby Shield was the 100thBradby Shield match between Trinity College and Royal College, and in 1999 Kandy Sports Club celebrated its 125th Anniversary stating in history as the oldest Rugby playing club in Sri Lanka. Haris continued to pursue his contribution for the nation as a committed and passionate leader and team player.
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| Hardly any change: Haris Omar, then (left) and now (right) | |
During his tenure Sri Lanka Rugby had a promising future such as the inaugural 1st Under 19 Asiad was played in Chinese Taipei and Under 24 Hong Kong tour of Sri Lanka. Both these teams were captained by Haris in 1995 and 1997 respectively. Sri Lanka Rugby team represented the Commonwealth Games in 1998 in Malaysia, Asian Games in 1998 and the inaugural tour to Northern Territories in Australia. He also captained – Sri Lanka XV at the 14th Asian Games 2002 – Busan – Korea ending up at the 5th position.
In 2007 Haris was appointed to the SLRFU (Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union) Council as an Up-Country representative consequently, he was unanimously appointed as the Chairman for National Rugby Development under DIG Nimal Lewke – President SLRFU. Haris served the SLRFU council during its 100th Year celebrations.
Haris Omar joined MAS Holdings Intimate in 2002 and presently he is the DGM (Deputy General Manager) for Human Resources. Haris speaking to the Sunday Times said “I still feel that I wish I can wear my boots and run onto the field and rock the show, but its very existence is substituted with greater challenges of life. I came with a sincere hope of a change to prove myself of the potential I have dreamt of achieving. To achieve this goal, I had to make a choice of a lifetime to leave ‘The’ thing that I loved. I miss the tears shed in victory and defeat as well as the pain of stretching to the limits that took me the journey. I specially miss polishing my rugby boots. In life you get many chances in different scenarios in different circumstances. These chances are messages of observing the choices bound to be made and will be made. I made my choice and now it’s time to make it work. My CEO (Chief Executive Officer) tells me that I am not merely a beast of brawn but a man of brain as well,” Haris said with thoughts, emotions and feelings that are engraved in each letter on me tell a story of life, which is a representation of the thousands who made it a reality. “In my own, I think to myself what privilege I possess to contribute to this work of art. Is it something I possess or is it something I have contributed or what is it I wonder?”
Haris Omar further said, “Sri Lanka sevens rugby although has proven a commercial and competitive success locally over a decade some within the rugby community have expressed concern that sevens is starting to drift away from the 15-man game. Asian teams including Sri Lanka participating in Sevens tournaments are able to compete with world class teams as contact play is restricted and mainly concentrated to the running and passing skills, many international players refined their game on the sevens circuit including all-time greats such as Jonah Lomu. This is happening less and less. Players have to make a choice – do they want to concentrate on sevens or 15′s. The techniques and training requires are becoming very difficult. Modern professional players are already pretty lean but the forwards in 15-a-side do need bulk as well. In sevens that is not required and new training regimes are making body fat levels even lower so they are not to transfer from one game to the other.
Haris continued and said Cathay Pacific HSBC sevens 2014 saw Sri Lanka included into the main tournament. Although we lost all games our performance was much better playing against teams like New Zealand, Wales and Kenya in the preliminary round and later in the Bowl quarter-final against Samoa was better despite the fact that they are strong, powerful with speed, in the Shield Semi-final our stand was better. This clearly shows that Sri Lanka rugby has made a surprisingly speedy recovery in the post-war despite damage to the infrastructure. Rugby sevens is without a doubt the most spectacular, exotic, best organized rugby competition of its kind in the world, and it has consistently produced the higher standard of sevens rugby anywhere.”
Ending on this Haris said “As a team sport rugby union is a distant third in the popularity rating behind cricket, schools rugby and this reality is unlikely to change until Sri Lanka national team become consistant on the world stage especially at the Asian circuit both 15-a-side and 7s tournaments.
Provincial rugby unions must take much more responsibility to promote the game as earlier planned in 1992 from grass root levels. If the provincial coaches are able to train one common drill is the ‘run pass’ which involves players running the length of the field and exchanging passes often for as long as an hour or more. This would certainly improve the skill levels and players would automatically build up their liking to play this game at a higher level towards which their enthusiasm will grow watching this island wide on television. A number of administrative issues related to differences between the structure of International rugby union and the Olympic movement remain to be sorted out before the 2016 Olympic Games.”