Vasantha de Silva, the founder Secretary of the Royal College Hockey Club (RCHC) elaborated the importance of holding a Sevens tournament as the Blue and Gold Hockey 7s reaches its 10th anniversary this year.
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| Present member of RCHC, Vasantha de Silva, hopes to see the competition flourish in years to come. (Pic by Amila Prabodha) |
“Sri Lanka had its glory days in hockey during the 1950s and 1960s and as a schoolboy hockey player I thoroughly enjoyed the supremacy of the sport. But sadly the glamour today is being overtaken by cricket and rugby. The Sevens tournament which we have been conducting for the past nine years have given us positive indications that hockey is raising its head again is Sri Lanka,” de Silva stated.
De Silva was one of the nearly 20 former hockey players of Royal College Colombo who pioneered the RCHC in 1991. Their purpose was to promote the game within Royal itself and build up a good reputation and coordination with other hockey playing schools in the country. But as years passed by few prominent veterans of the game came up with the idea of initiating a tournament that many teams will take part.
“Few of those who were at the very first meeting were Chandi Chanmugam, Lionel Almeida, Harry Rasiah, Dr. H.N. Wickremasinghe, Nihal Mendis and myself. Our gathering was on something else but we ended up sketching out this wonderful hockey tournament,” recalled de Silva.
At the beginning the tournament was conducted with two motives. The RCHC’s had their original objectives. In the first place they looked at this competition as an avenue to strengthen the Royal College hockey team. Their idea was to invite over 20 teams for the first competition while in contrast they had to expect the unexpected.
“In the first year 24 teams participated and it was a major boost up for us as organizers. It motivated us to put more effort on this tournament. We also began to see many other openings through this,” said de Silva.
As at today the Blue and Gold Hockey 7s tournament which began in a small scale with modest objectives has grown to become a key hockey event in the country. This year as it celebrates its decade of existence the number of participating teams are expected to surpass the limit of 50 which the organizers consider as a positive response.
“Participation of teams over the years has been pretty impressive. It has risen up in numbers while this year we expect 58 teams. Our target in the near future is to have more than 100 teams and see many youngsters reach the junior and senior national level via this platform. If it reaches that point we have plans to conduct preliminary rounds at provincial level and the knock-outs in Colombo,” he revealed.
The Blue and Gold Hockey 7s 2011, the first of its kind among schools is an all-island schools tournament which is scheduled to be staged on October 15 and 16 at Reid Avenue in Colombo.
The mini hockey carnival is quite famous for the preference given to the players who receive the highest exposure each year. The two-day tournament promises to be a clash among the best stickers in the country as they exhibit their skills to win glory. A total of 34 boy’s teams and 24 girl’s teams are scheduled to take part in this year’s grand schools’ hockey sevens.
The tournament will be conducted in three different categories where all teams after clashing in groups will be divided into Cup, Plate and Bowl segments. In addition to attractive trophies and medals offered for the winners, special individual awards will be given away to those who shine during the tournament which will be officiated by Sri Lanka’s top umpires. The tournament is sponsored by Singer Sri Lanka. The Sunday Times is the official print media sponsor. Among the electronic media sponsors are Derana TV, Neth FM and TNL Radio. |
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