Empowering women today to win the world tomorrow
From left: Padma Siriwardana (Director Admin, Department of Sports Development), Amal Edirisooriya (Director General, Department of Sports Development), Anuradha Wijekoon (Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sports), Ashani Senaratne (Head of Marketing - Brand Management, Dialog Axiata PLC) and Lakshmi Victoria (President, Netball Federation of Sri Lanka)
Celebrating International Women’s Day, Sri Lanka’s premier connectivity provider, Dialog Axiata PLC in partnership with the Netball Federation of Sri Lanka (NFSL) and the Department of Sports Development are conducting a provincial netball tourney to identify and develop new talent to be international champions of tomorrow. It will take place on March 7 and 8 at the Torrington Grounds, Colombo.
Over nine teams and 150 players from all nine provinces are expected to compete for supremacy at the Dialog Netball Rising Stars 2021. The preliminary round of the tourney will be played in a league structure. From quarter-finals onward the tourney will be played on knockout basis. Third place matches and the finals will be played with 40 minutes per game split into four segments.
The national netball team has made steady progress during the last few years and come up in the International and Asian ranking at 18th and 1st respectively.
“Sri Lanka has the potential to perform extremely well beyond the Asian circuit with new talent pool we have been developing over the past few years and this tourney is an extent to that progression,” Lakshmi Victoria, President, Netball Federation of Sri Lanka said.
“In spite of obstacles faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I would like to thank NFSL for partnering with us and Dialog Axiata PLC, for powering a tourney of this magnitude to celebrate International Women’s Day,” Amal Edirisooriya, Director General Department of Sports Development at the Ministry of Youth and Sports said.
“We are proud to partner with NFSL to develop the talent pool from all nine provinces of Sri Lanka and bring glory to our motherland. The national team has been making steady progress in the past few years especially with the new talent coming in and we are excited to see the best our finest young women will achieve in the international arena,” Ashani Senaratne, Head of Marketing at Dialog Axiata PLC said.
“We are proud to launch this nation-wide tourney on International Women’s Day in celebration of our talented players to unlock their full potential and empower them to reach greater heights in becoming the champions of tomorrow,” Senaratne further added.
Dialog Axiata sponsors Sri Lanka national cricket, rugby, volleyball and netball teams. The Company also has a close association with the President’s Gold Cup Volleyball, National Junior and Senior Netball tourneys, Club Rugby, Schools Rugby, Premier Football, Schools’ Cricket, Junior Volleyball and Paralympic sports – whilst also powering the Army Para Games, National Para Games and the Sri Lankan contingent to the Olympic and World Paralympic Games.