Sports
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A
new breed of gems from Ratnapura This year has been a wonderful season for these new entrants to school boxing. The youngsters first began on a losing note when they lost the L.V. Jayaweera Trophy in their own ring to Vidyaratne Pirivena, Horana another school that took up boxing recently. But the coach was dead sure that the trophy had to be there in their collection, but were denied for reasons known only to the persons who organized it. When they lost this trophy the coach assured that they were going to win all the trophies from here on and they proved it by winning three championships in succession, the T.B. Jayah trophy, Cadet Boxing Cup and the Stubbs Shield. The last named they won with a thumping lead of 20 points, Seevali MMV 43 and Royal 23. You go to the town of the city of gems and inquire where Seevali MMV is situated they proudly reply ah! the Sri Lanka schools boxing champions and they guide you with respect. Within a span of a decade the school has won the T.B. Jayah, L.V. Jayaweera, Stubbs Shield, Junior Nationals and the Cadet boxing championships on several occasions. But the road to stardom has not been a bed of roses to these dedicated and determined boys. At present they undergo their training in a small wattle and daub building and under trees in the school premises. The man behind their success story is none other than Wasantha Kumara an old boy of Joseph Vaz Wennappuwa who left everything behind and settled down in Ratnapura. Though not a serious boxer himself he was an ardent supporter of the sport. Wasantha took a bold step in introducing boxing to Seevali in the early 90's with only his brother Samith Kumara as the sole boxer whom he undertook to train. At the inception he had to undergo pressure in entering his brother for boxing meets and even nearly got sacked from school but that did not deter Wasantha from making his dream come true. He persuaded the school authorities and won at the end. His crowning moment came in 1995 that is after just one year the school took to boxing when they entered for the L.V. Jayaweera boxing championship and became runners up. A few months later the school went a step further when they annexed the T.B. Jayah trophy. From there on it was plain sailing. They have fared extremely well in all four major inter-school boxing meets since boxing came into being at Seevali MMV. Their performance in the meets are L.V. Jayaweera - runners up in 1995 and 2000, champions in the years 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003 and second runner up in 2001 and 2004. They hold the record of securing the highest points of 55 in the history of the meet in 1998. The performance in the T.B. Jayah boxing meet are champions in 1995, 1998, 1999, 2002 and 2004 and runner up in 2003. They have won the Stubbs Shield for six years in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2004. They were runner up in the inaugural boxing meet of the Cadet Cup in 2002 and are the champions for the last two years. They were Junior National champions in 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2003. But their best achievement was in the year 1998 when they won the L.V. Jayaweera, T.B. Jayah, Stubbs Shield and the Junior nationals. The performance of these extraordinary boys did not go un-noticed as two years ago they were rewarded with a handsome sponsorship package by a leading company Caltex who presented them with a boxing ring which was a much needed impedimenta along with boxing gloves, kits and other equipment necessary for the uplift of boxing. The school has produced medal winning boxers at international meets including the SAF Games and SAARC Junior boxing championship. One of their boxers K.C.N. Alexander particpated at 2002 Commonwealth Games. Wasantha's main ambition is to produce a boxer to represent Sri Lanka at the Olympics which they are capable of achieving. Now the sport of boxing has spread alluringly in the Sabaragamuwa Province with Wasantha providing his boxers schools in the area namely Embilipitiya MMV, Mihindu Vidyalaya, St Luke's College, Dhammananda Pirivena, Kumara Vidyalaya, and Sri Saddharma Lankara which have taken to boxing seriously. Seevali MMV being a mixed school, besides the boys now they have formed a girls team too with over ten girls training under Sameera Anura Kumara who is Wasantha's assistant. He said Sameera was responsible in the school winning the trophies this year as Wasantha who is employed at Unichela Ltd in Panadura was unable to be with the boys for most of the time. Wasantha is grateful to the old boys who have been a tower of strength and the master in charge Jayantha Srilal Navaratne, who took over the post only recently and does it with sheer dedication, as when the boys come down to Colombo or go for boxing meets anywhere in the island he does the driving. The principal Gunaratne Dassanayake who took over the school only a few months back seems to have taken a liking to the sport and is encouraging the boys to the hilt. Speaking to the Sunday Times he said "I motivate the boys and see to their needs. They are well disciplined and when they lost the L.V. Jayaweera boxing title early this year, he got them around as I felt they were determined to bring back all the other trophies so I arranged a coaching camp three weeks before the next meet was to be held". They were allowed to use the principals bungalow, even the old boys joined me, they gave financial support and provided the nourishments and also provided doctors. It was like training a national team and the boys did not let us down, like they said they won all the boxing meets. Now we are going to reward them and we will take them on a five-day trip, which they can decide. Today the boys of Seevali MMV are the gems of Ratnapura, this is indeed a success story of a school boxing their way to stardom, from rags to riches and that too within a span of a decade, is indeed marvellous. |
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