Badminton ‘guru’, Darshana Fernando to coach his alma mater next weekend
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Dharshana Fernando, former national badminton player, will be in Sri Lanka to conduct a Badminton coaching camp to the players at his alma mater, St. Thomas’ College, Bandarawela. The three-day coaching programme will take place during February 23 and 25 at the college’s S.L.A.Ratnayake Memorial Indoor Stadium in Bandarawela.
“I am delighted to run this programme for the benefit of the St. Thomas’ College badminton team as well as other players in the region,” said coach Dharshana Fernando, who is currently based in Canada for nearly two decades.
Popularly known as ‘Coach Fernando, he is a prominent badminton coach in Canada and has his own badminton school, ‘Fernando’s’ Youth Badminton Academy’, a leader in the badminton training industry in Canada.
Known as Coach Fernando in Canada, Dharshana is an international coach and travels regularly to conduct coaching programmes around the world. Currently he is engaged in a coaching tour in the Asia Pacific and will be in Malaysia before visiting Sri Lanka on a short coaching stint. Fernando has been in the region conducting badminton training programmes for around four weeks. He is a National Coaching Certification Programme (NCCP) Level 3 certified coach in Canada.
“The coaching programme at St. Thomas’ College, Bandarawela has been long due. Many old boys and teachers have invited me to conduct a programme but due to busy schedule and the Covid pandemic it did not materialise for some time. I am glad that finally we are able to get this going. The interest and the efforts put in by the Old Boys’ Association (OBA) of the school is commendable,” added coach Fernando, over a telephone conversation from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The intended coaching programme has been incorporated with badminton theory and his own practical experience accumulated over the past five decades.
“It will definitely benefit the school team and other players in a big way. I have drafted a 90-day training programme as a short term plan and a long term plan will also be discussed with the OBA Sports Committee, the college coach, master in-charge of badminton and other officials,” added Fernando.
The standard of the badminton team of St. Thomas’ Bandarawela will be at a different level following this ‘secret recipe’, which Fernando terms as the ideal pathway to success. Fernando will also offer several scholarships in cash and kind for students who excel at the coaching camp initially.
But he has greater plans for the students in the future with more scholarships including foreign training. In addition, he will be presenting one of the latest equipment for badminton, footwork training known as the ‘shadow trainer’ which he believes in one of the first in Sri Lanka.
Fernando, as a student of St. Thomas’ College, Bandarawela, has represented his school in badminton, cricket, football, hockey and athletics, while captaining almost all the sides he played in. As a youngster, he has won the Under-12, 14 and 16 titles at the Junior National Badminton Championships, and went on the extend of winning many titles at national senior level while representing the country in international competitions held in China and Hong Kong. Fernando also became the national champion in Bahrain, earning the title ‘Sheikh of the Shuttle, before turning his focus on coaching.
While coaching, with a NCCP Level 3 certification in Canada, Fernando still makes way to play in Masters Tournaments held worldwide, Among his many achievements as a masters player, Fernando cherishes the gold medal he won at the US Senior International Badminton Championship 2012 held in Miami, USA.
In addition he has received many awards for the services rendered as a badminton coach, where coach Fernando was honoured by the Mayor of the City, Ontario Badminton Association and the Toronto District Badminton Association.
During the past coach Fernando has travelled over 40 countries as an international coach, and has shared his knowledge among budding and national level players of those countries. He has conducted a few coaching programmes around Sri Lanka, but this will be the first occasion where coach Fernando will spend three full days dedicated to his alma mater, St. Thomas’ College, Bandarawela.