Is Rugby well served in Sri Lanka?
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I dozed off reading the list of honorary Doctorates awarded in 2016 by Glasgow University. It included Alastair Kellock and Gregor Townsend, Club Captain and Head Coach respectively of Glasgow Warriors for their contribution to Rugby and Community Engagement. Former Scotland Rugby player and BBC Broadcaster John Beattie also becomes a Doctor of the University. The University of Glasgow is the 4th oldest university in the English-speaking world. Founded in 1451, its one of Scotland’s 4 ancient universities.
I dreamed of a Doctorate, albeit honorary, being awarded for contribution to Rugby in Sri Lanka. I saw the dissent, with a protest near the railway station and a walk to Galle Face and Temple Trees. I woke thinking who could be there in the list, while justification may require the President of the country to intervene and meet a delegation and appoint a Committee.
Are the criteria to be close to the Glasgow award- for contribution to Rugby and Community Engagement. The question then would be to determine what is meant by contribution to Rugby and, or Community Engagement. May be a committee of protesting students can be appointed to advice on the subject.
My list of consideration of awarding the Doctorate goes to a person or persons who have made that contribution but the citation will be different form Glasgow.
The men from the hills will be high on the list, as they claim to have been in the forefront of Rugby for many years. As we have done this year, we can come from behind, after having lost early, and win a Cup. Community Engagement is rife and, to appease the crowds, we will say Kandy is theirs and Rugby is theirs. Sit by the old rubber tree point and you may get an idea of what I am saying. Others may say they have taken our players. Look at the players who remain; I may think the doctorate may appropriately be awarded to some of the players who are injured before key matches.
It defies me to understand how big names nurse injuries before a critical match. But then, they probably contribute for themselves and family and not to the game or the community. I do consider them too. It may be appropriate for a Machiavelli award to be in place. I then include those who introduced the reward which is called professional Rugby which has introduced another culture. That is a culture of following the money and not rooting in a club; calling it loyalty or belonging. Match-fixing is something we have not heard of in SL Rugby, but injuries before key matches is something we have heard, and fixing through injuries can be the slogan.
The Park Club management are contenders for having been in front almost to the end, but could not get the hands on the Cup. They have gone through rough times and lost players, but kept the game flowing. Possibly due to the largesse and wisdom of some, including the fools among themselves who crap on what is good.
Take the case of Kandy who won a Cup accumulating bonus points. Were the others dumb so as not to realize the value of bonus points? Probably, they thought winning a match is enough and that, probably, deserves a Doctorate. Probably, the boys from the school next door can help in the protest, as numbers are needed. Rugby is not all that fun to schoolboys now, and a bit of action with a slogan may be fun.
Contribution to Rugby, I would say, “No”, but Engagement of Community, “Yes”. You are engaging the Rugby-mad Kandy community with “something” to crow about. Otherwise, just keep making issues that do not see a solution.
Could it be CR who had the men and talent, but have been finding the Cup elusive? Surely they should be considered for having realized that the expatriate coach is taking them nowhere and did show him the door. It took a while to realize that. Replaced by a Sri Lankan and former CR player who was also in the coaching staff previously? Probably the Doctorate will come from Bethlem which came to be known as Bedlam.
Then there is CH who hung on with no wins, no funds and little support. But then, they are the oldest club trying to exist. For that, the administrators should get a title of at least being given a rare honorary Masters from a perpetual trust.
Air Force who beat Kandy in their first round match, deserves merit. The merit is further accumulated as they lost the second round, allowing Kandy to score 70 points. But they deserve a mention, as they have ascended from the bottom of the pit. Navy, Army and Police have kept Rugby going forward and, if not for them, there would not be a ‘B’ Division tournament. The ‘B’ Division is a non-starter with no funding or focused sponsorship, and not able to attract players to clubs. How can they play Rugby, having to practice daily while doing a full-time job? In the forces of course, where they are given time and, or work in sports related activities. The answer would be for the clubs to organise matches among themselves for those who want to be in the game, but cannot afford the luxury of time. Practice a day or two, meet and make friends, and play a match. Do that and may be, an award for Community Engagement will be considered. It may keep a lot of players leaving school still involved in Rugby. What about the corporates who want to win the Mercantile 7s and register players to win some silver. The talk of governance is for the world, but within does it matter how it is done.
Better still, if it could be the Referees who are vilified every week, but continue to be on the field. If they are not there, who would referee the 600-odd games. Will it be the foreigners who referee a few club games? No PhD, but a PH for being the biggest, a hole, as people on the grounds think. I think an award to the punks who think Referees need glasses, when they themselves can neither read nor write, and they see only one side is fitting.
Better still, to the School Section and the SLRU, who don’t seem to see eye to eye, and the base is in a spin. The much acclaimed Von Trapp’s ‘Sound of Music’ has been produced in Sinhala as ‘Sarigama’. It may be worth to see the film to understand a simple point. How does Maria the ‘Palikawa’ or governess, handle the children as she meets them? There is little negative in her attitude and she turns around most remarks to her advantage by being positive: a way to win. It is difficult if you are uncouth and unkempt, as even in Sinhala you will not get the bigger message.
Vimal Perera is a former Rugby Referee, coach and Accredited
Referees Evaluator IRB