Coach Fernando celebrates 50 years in racquet sport with world tour
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Darshana Fernando conducting a training session in Thailand
World renowned badminton coach, Darshana Fernando, who recently completed 50 years of involvement with the racquet sport, as a player, coach and promoter, was involved in a series of coaching camps around the globe in 2019.
Former Sri Lanka national player Fernando has earned a reputation as a professional badminton coach in Canada, mainly centred at Toronto. Known as Coach Fernando in Canada, he established his own world class coaching academy 12 years ago, which is famous as ‘Fernando’s Youth Badminton Academy’ toda
While conducting training sessions at his academy with his young coaching staff, Fernando also visits other countries to hold coaching and training camps. In 2019 he was invited by three countries for such activities while winding up the year with a programme in Sri Lanka.
Fernando conducted coaching camps in Singapore, Indonesia and last year. His first visit was to Singapore where Fernando conducted a badminton programme for their members and followed it up with a visit to Indonesia to meet coaching counterparts to exchange ideas.
Later in July he was invited by Chiang Mai in Thailand to conduct a series of coaching programmes for clubs.
Fernando, a BWF qualified international coach, also has close links with the Badminton World Federation (BWF) while continuing to feature as a player in the Master’s category at international competitions. His service to badminton of 50 years, was recently recognised by Fernando’s close friends.
“I’m really grateful for the reception I received by my colleagues and friends from badminton, but my real ambition is to continue imparting my knowledge to the next generation of shuttlers. I’m really focused on that and I have been receiving continuous invitations from many countries in the world to hold coaching camps,” Fernando stated.
During a personal visit to Sri Lanka, Fernando conducted a coaching camp at Our Lady of Victories Convent (OLV) in Moratuwa upon an invitation by the school. During the one-day programme he passed on the finer points of the game to both senior and junior badminton teams of the school.
“I have to mention about the Sri Lankan coaches here. At the programme at OLV in Moratuwa, I was overwhelmed by the skill level of the players. They have been perfectly taught the basics of badminton by the local coaches such as handwork, footwork, hand-eye coordination and most importantly discipline. That made my task much easier, and with this skill level, I’m sure Sri Lanka could go farther in badminton at international level,” he added.
Fernando was tasked to conduct a coaching camp at his alma mater, St. Thomas’ College, Guruthalawa, but due to logistical issues the programme now has been moved further. Unlike his other international camps held around the world, which are fully sponsored by the inviting party, Fernando will make sure the coaching programme in Bandarawela will be done without any cost to his former school.
“The organisers, who are old boys of St. Thomas’ Guruthalawa, are planning to hold a programme of higher scale where other badminton players from the region also could take part. It will be a five-day programme and I’m thrilled to conduct a comprehensive camp for all the shuttlers from the region.”
In 2020, Fernando will kick-start his international coaching calendar with visits to Cambodia and Vietnam, where he will hold camps for clubs in Ho Chi Ming and Da Nang, and another session in Thailand. In 2018, he completed successful coaching tours in Costa Rica and Colombia in Central and South America.
“Badminton is at a growth stage in most of these countries and I am proud to be associated with them to take the sport to the next level. It’s an honour to be invited by several countries, I have worked hard towards getting certified in badminton coaching, updating myself with training methods and also visiting countries such as China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Denmark to learn the latest training methods in badminton coaching. I give the credit to Sri Lanka and for my gurus for teaching me the basics in badminton.”