Coach Fernando completes successful badminton training programme at STC Bandarawela
View(s):Canadian and international badminton coach, Dharshana Fernando, conducted a three-day coaching programme at his alma mater, St. Thomas’ College in Bandarawela recently. The programme was a huge success with over 120 students participating as Coach Fernando gave some of the most important finer points of the game to these youngsters.
A training programme was also given to coach Eranda, the coach of St. Thomas’ College, Bandarawela. Coach Fernando stated that the standard of badminton will improve at St. Thomas’, Bandarawela in the next couple of months. 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 conduct this programme for the benefit of
St. Thomas’ College badminton team. This coaching programme was long overdue. Many old boys and teachers invited me to conduct this programme and I am glad that finally we were able to get this going. The interest and efforts put in by the Old Boys’ Association (OBA) of the school was commendable,” said coach Dharshana Fernando, who is 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. Fernando is an international coach and travels regularly to conduct coaching programmes around the world. He is a National Coaching Certification Programme (NCCP) Level 3 certified coach in Canada.
“I definitely hope the programme benefited the school team and other players in a big way. I drafted a 90-day training programme as a short term plan and a long term plan, and also 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. He also 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.