Tharindu wants a professional league to help create ‘players’
Tharindu Fernando
Tharindu Fernando, a multi-talented individual, and Head Coach of basketball at Gateway International School, Colombo was been appointed by Sri Lanka Basketball Federation (SLBF) as Coach of Sri Lanka Under-23 team for the upcoming FIBA U-23 World Cup, to be held in Mongolia.
An achiever in the making, Fernando has been engaged with basketball ever since he was a student of De La Salle Brothers, where he took up one of world’s popular, yet locally thriving sport. An avid player who came under the wings of his first coach Bro. Janaka Fonseka, Fernando aspired taking steps further while he was still young, and took up basketball coaching at the age of 16 supported by his mentor.
He climbed up the ladder in coaching, learning all aspects and becoming savvy with the latest knowhow in basketball to soon become a FIBA accredited coach. Thus he ends up as Sri Lanka Under-23 coach, with his first daunting task being grooming the team for the FIBA Under-23 World Cup, to be held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from October 11 to 15.
“You don’t have to be the biggest, fastest, strongest player out there. You can’t control your height, nor can you control your athleticism compared to competitors. But you can control your efforts, attitude and work ethics. That’s the fundamental to success in any field of sport,” Fernando stated.
With experience of over 25 years in coaching, coupled up with passion and dedication, Fernando scripted an unblemished career, winning many championships at different levels, from school to club. Up to now he has coached at all age groups including, the Sri Lanka Women team in 2009, Sri Lanka Under-19 Boys teams in 2012 and 2016, Sri Lanka Men’s 3×3 team for the World Cup in France 2017 and the Sri Lanka U-23 team at Nation League in Japan in 2018.
He is known of his use of technology in developing his athletes to become champion players, and intends to adhere the same methods into the heads of the youngsters who will represent Sri Lanka later this October at the world event.
“We need to have a professional league in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately we don’t have one here. Our players need exposure with foreign players. We need a good tournament structure. After Under-19 level, our players don’t have a bridge to get selected to the national team. If we have a regular Under-23 team, it will benefit to choose players for the national side. This will be a very good foundation to build to last and contribute to build a strong national team in the future,” he emphasised.
To compete on par internationally, Fernando has a wealth of knowhow from which Sri Lanka could benefit immensely. One area Sri Lanka needs to look at seriously to promote the status of basketball are Sports Science Technology devices and Data Analysts to assist the coaching staff.
He is expected to create a professional atmosphere in basketball and aims to create a path where some day coaches from the USA would be able to take over here. The technology aspect that he used to turn around things for Gateway is expected to stand in good stead for Sri Lankan basketball as well, as he is taken up this new challenge.