Rugby coach Rodrigo is now homeless
View(s):Basil Rodrigo, a former rugby player and a coach who served the game for almost four decades has been forced to give up on his trade following a road accident. Rodrigo, an old boy of St. Benedict’s College, who captained the First XV side in 1974, met with an accident when he was travelling in his bike along with school rugby veteran Nihal Mudannayake in Avissawella.
At an event in the North
Rodrigo, who considers rugby as his bread and butter, says the sport in his veins. Since 1975 he has served the sport as a coach mostly voluntarily.
After leaving school Rodrigo joined CH&FC and represented the club as a winger from 1975 to 1986. He also has played against several visiting teams from abroad. Since 1975 Rodrigo has been in the coaching trade. He has coached at D.S. Senanayake, Mahanama, Thurstan, Wesley and Asoka colleges before being invited as a technical officer under the development programmes of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU).
Later he was assigned by the SLRFU to coach in the Western, Southern, North Central, North Western and Uva provinces. Rodrigo holds the rare honour of being the only coach in Sri Lanka to have worked in all provinces. He has also coached in Jaffna and Kilinochchi districts.
Basil Rodrigo
So far Rodrigo has coached over 500 schools and players numbering to over 100,000 from the ages of 9 to 17 have trained under him.
His ailing health has made Rodrigo a feeble man and at present is in no position to engage in rugby coaching. Eventually after serious consideration Rodrigo decided to throw the towel last week even though the conclusion distances him from the sport he loved.
At present Rodrigo has no permanent place to live. A doctor named S. Gnanapandithan in Colombo has provided Rodrigo and his wife temporary shelter. Rodrigo, who is the elder brother of diseased actor Granville Rodrigo, also thanked SLRFU president Asanga Seneviratne and rugby stalwart Shane Dullewa for the assistance rendered during his active days.