History making netballers from Ladies get Singapore tour
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Standing left to right-Nelumi Cooray, Ovidhinie Daluwatte, Alana Seneviratne, Raeesah Noorhamith, Nuwangi Gunawardena, Sarisha Gunasekera, Nethroo Balasooriya, Sulani De Silva Seated left to right- Mr. Deeptha Senerath Bandara (Coach), Ms. Brenda Rajapaksha (Teacher-in-Charge), Bimanya Ratnayake (Vice Captain), Ganya Senanayake (Captain), Ms. Eesha Speldawinde (Principal), Ms. Deepika Dassanayake (Vice Principal), Anika Seneviratne (Vice Captain), Ms. Kamala Kulathilake (Sports Coordinator)
After being the pioneers in introducing the game of Netball to girls schools in Sri Lanka, 2019 was a Red Letter year for Ladies’ College as it made history by winning the All Island Netball Championships, Under 18 for the first time in it’s 119 year history.
Having been Runner-up in 2018 to Visakha Vidyalaya in Hikkaduwa, LC solidified their reputation of being a winning team by pipping long-time Champions Holy Family Convent, Kurunegala to the winning post in a knife-edge Grand Final on their home turf Kurunegala by 37 points to 36.
Ladies soundly defeated strong contenders to the title Maliyadeva College 38 – 34 in the Semi-Final. Both these Kurunegala schools have dominated the sport over the past decade and are champion sides and Ladies did exceptionally well to beat them on their home turf and win the the National title.
Ladies’ College had the satisfaction of overcoming the defending champions Visakha Vidyalaya 19 -10 and Kalutara Balika 24 – 21 in the Provincial Tournament held in Colombo after previously coming through the Circuits and Zonal Championships successfully. Netball is one of the most competitive and widely played sports among girls schools in Sri Lanka and is played at a very high standard.
Interestingly, six players of this Champion side are class mates and have been playing for the team since U12. The girls love of Netball has grown over the years and being the under-dog in the face of intense competition has never deterred them from believing in their team work and unity.
Head coach Deepatha Senarath Bandara said, “this has been our dream and goal for a long time and it has come true and this was possible only due to the dedication and sacrifice made by the players and teachers. As the premier private girls school in the country, Ladies excels in many sports, offering a staggering number of sports together with one of the best sports programs in the country.
Although we don’t have as many students as most other colleges to pick from because of the small size of the school, this team has a group of girls who have excelled in multiple sports and brought success and honour to Ladies College”.
The teacher in charge Brenda Rajapakse said,” this is a great moment in our schools long history and I have to thank our Principal Eesha Speldewinde for always being with us and supporting our every request throughout the entire year. The journey to reach this point has not been easy and the entire team has sacrificed a lot to achieve this result. Mrs Kamal Kulatilake our Sports Coordinator and Ms. Pushpa Navaratne (Assistant Coach) were with us right from the beginning and we are all extremely thankful.
The winning team will tour Singapore to play 2 matches in December and believe it is a great opportunity for the girls to experience international competition.