Hockey: Dinesha Perera becomes first Woman Umpire from Sri Lanka

Dinesha Perera, the former Sri Lanka Hockey captain and present coach of Bishop's College Colombo became the first Sri Lankan to be appointed as an International Umpire. 

Perera officially became an International Umpire after her impressive performance at the recently concluded Asian Hockey Federation Cup in Bangkok, Thailand. 

A veteran of international officiating at the Under-18 Asia Cup Tournament in Bangkok, Under-21 Asia Cup Tournament in Singapore in 2011 and 2012 and the World League Hockey Tournament 2016 in Singapore, Perera becomes the first women from Sri Lanka to earn this accolade.

A former pupil of St. Paul’s Girls School Milagiriya and Sirimavo Bandaranayake Vidyalaya, Perera captained both schools at junior and senior age groups. 

She was part of the Combined Colombo Schools, Sri Lanka Schools and the Western Province teams, before appearing for Colts CC, Colombo Hockey Association and Sri Lanka.

After her playing career, Perera became a coach and completed the Asian Hockey Federation Level 1 and 2 courses and later on took up to umpiring.