Give me 12 good players and I will show what I am capable of says Netball Coach Deepthi Alwis
Deepthi Alwis
Deepthi Alwis has been appointed as the National Netball Coach by the Sri Lanka Netball Federation, thus ending the uncertainty which hovered over the selection of a netball coach. Her main task will be to train the Sri Lanka team for the next Asian Senior Netball Championships to be held from July 30 to August 7 in Thailand. This was confirmed by Yasa Ramachandra, President of the Sri Lanka Netball Federation. When we questioned the Director General of Sports K.D.S. Ruwanchandra, whether the Sports Minister’s approval is needed. He said there is no such requirement.
Five coaches attended meeting to select the netball coach. They are: P.D. Prasadi, Janaki Gunasekera, Francisca Handapangoda, Somitha de Alwis and Deepthi Alwis.Deepthi Alwis was the coach of the 2015 Sydney World Netball Championship. Other than that in 2014, though she was named as the coach for the Asian Championships in Singapore she was unable to attended it as she was removed from the post by former Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage. Hyacinth Wijesinghe attended the Singapore contest as Consultant Coach. In the final Sri Lanka suffered defeat at the hands of Singapore with a difference of 18 goals.
Deepthi has represented Sri Lanka at three World Cups – 1987 (Scotland), 1991 (Sydney, Australia) and 1995 (Birmingham). She also captained the Sri Lanka team at the Birmingham event. She has also taken part in three Asian Championships – 1990, 1993 and 1997. Sri Lanka emerged champion at the 1990 and 1997 competitions. She is an old girl of Swarnapali Balika MV, Anuradhapura and also functions as the coach of the Port Authority netball team. When questioned about the forthcoming Asian Championships in Thailand she said,
“It is a big challenge. But we will face it calmly with a lot of courage. It is nothing new to Sri Lanka. We have won it on four occasions; we lost it on two occasions. We must forget all that and face the opposition with determination. “We planned for the event for five months but due to the delay in naming me as the coach, the plans have to be reduced to three months. There are 39 players in the pool at present. From April onwards we hope to start residential coaching.” In conclusion she said: “I request the Netball Federation to give me a good Selection Committee who in turn will be able to give me 12 good players to train for the game.”