Dharmapala College, Pannipitya is one of the leading mixed schools in the country to earn a good name in the fields of academic and sports alike. Founded in the year 1940 by the then principal of Ananda College, Colombo, P de S Kularatne as a branch of their school, Dharmapala College has grown in strength from 300 to 4,600 plus students and from eight to 190 teachers during the phase of 71 years.

The school which is located approximately 15 kilometers from the heart of Colombo, Sri Lanka's commercial capital has the honour of producing public images in the likes of renowned filmmaker Tissa Abeysekara and the country's former premier Ratnasiri Wickremanayake. Though the school is yet to boast of a national sports icon, extra curricular activities have played a major role in the growth and popularity of the school.

Cricket ground

The school's principal, KG Wimalasena who is an ardent sport lover was of the view that extra curricular activities play a key role in a youngster's life that is on the verge of exploring the challenges of society. He commented to the Sunday Times on the aspects of importance of balancing both sports and studies in their quest to produce good citizens to the country.

"I took over in 2004 as the principal of the school. Since then with the co-corporation of the staff members the students' academic level and results at major examinations bettered. Sports has helped the name of the school in reaching greater heights.

Unfortunately only a handful is keen to come forward and engage in extra curricular activities these days. Some students are naturally backwards while in some cases parents add unwanted pressure on their children on studies. Either way the school is losing a potential sportsman or woman. We are keen to change this attitude," Wimalasena told the Sunday Times.

During the past five year the ratio of students getting through the GCE O/L exam jumped from 85 to 95 percent at Dharmapala while at present nearly 100 students make their way to the Universities every year. Five years ago the rate was 35 students average annually. But in contrast masters and teachers in charge of sports at the school have to literally hunt, go on man hunting to encourage students into sports activities.

KG Wimalasena, Principal.

"We have about 20 sports and 20 other extra activities at Dharmapala. The boys and girls have showed much potential at cricket, netball, wushu, badminton and chess. But still it has failed to attract the youngsters to take up sports," he grieved.

Dharmapala has done considerably well at cricket, athletics, netball and chess. The school's 1st XI cricket team emerged as group champions and went on to become league runners-up in 2010. The cricketers coached by Sanjaya Devapura improved their performances during the past three years but according to the coach this year has not been that satisfactory.

This year's 1st XI cricket team has three high-performing all-rounders. Rasitha Gamage is their key player with over 718 runs and 38 wickets while Isuru Gunathilleke also has scored above 700 runs. Skipper Dilrukshan Jayasundera has bagged 56 wickets and scored 360 runs.

"We played 13 matches this season but in comparison to last year we are really not doing that well. But our players are performing at an average level which is a consolation to any coach. The junior structure is very strong but we face a major setback at the senior level. Potential cricketers don't continue their career to the top level due to academic commitments," Devapura said.

Netball which is one of the main sports for the girls at the school is facing the similar crisis. Its teacher-in-charge CD Chandra who has been in charge of the sport for the past 12 years explained the difficulties the team has to meet with.

CD Chandra, Netball TIC

"At the age groups of Under-15, 17 and 19 our girls have done really well to continuously win championships at circuit and district levels. We have a strong set up at the junior level but when it comes to the senior age groups the number of players decreases to a single team. At an all girls school the situation is totally different but since we are a mixed school we find it difficult to extract the true talent. In addition the parents discourage children from engaging at sports and force students to concentrate on studies only. It's not a healthy move from the children's point of view," grieved the teacher who was an excellent sportswoman in her heydays at Dharmapala as a student.

Dharmapala College launched a fully fledged swimming pool in its 18 acre facility with the intention of promoting life saving and swimming as extra curricular activities. The school also engages in other sports like rugby, football, gymnastic, table tennis, athletics and volleyball and has managed to reach a high level in the respective fields. The principal who is as keen to achieve the successes at sports as they have done in the academic field said the strong Past Pupil's Association has been formed to oversee the progress of sports at school.

"There is a central sports committee which has sub committees to each sport and is keen to develop the status. As a starter we have already began conducting coaching camps to each sport and encourage more newcomers to come in. At the same time we have this barrier of being a mixed school in finding suitable candidates to represent each team. Unlike most of the other schools who are either all-boys or all-girls our students are a bit backwards to put take that successful step in sports which could take them to grater heights. We are really working hard to break that attitude of the students and parents in order to create a whole new tradition and become one of the leading institutions of the country," the head of Dharmapala went on to say.

Naushad Amith, Pix by Ranjith Perera