MCA Cricket Academy - A decade and still batting on
The recently crowned Under-12 champions of the Roy Dias Inter Academy Cricket Tournament 2012, the Mercantile Cricket Association’s Cricket Academy ( MCACA) is celebrating yet another landmark in its history. Having shaped the destiny of many students over the years to groom into international stars, this year it commemorates ten years of service to the rising stars of Sri Lankan cricket.
The MCACA, a brainchild of the Mercantile Cricket Association (MCA) incidentally completed its 100 years of cricketing in Sri Lanka. Speaking on the 10th anniversary of MCACA, President of the MCA, Mahesh Wijewardene said “I have seen a steady progress of the MCA Cricket Academy since its inception and am very pleased to say that our Academy is now regarded as one of the best in the country”.
Since its inauguration in June 2002, under the auspices of the then president Chris Obeysekera, the academy has moulded many youngsters from various parts of the island into first class school boy cricketers. The MCA initiated the cricketing school in order to provide Sri Lankan students with an opportunity to harness their talent, not only by development of their skills but also by preparing them mentally to face the challenges of the sport. 150 school cricketers between the ages of eight and 17 years currently receive training at the MCACA.
This is a marked growth from the initial 3 students with whom the academy was inaugurated. Veteran coach Nelson Mendis claims, “The MCA’s Cricket Academy is one of the foremost coaching schools in Sri Lanka and has always been supported by the cream of Sri Lankan Cricket”.
The cricketers are trained under the watchful eye of the head coach Sarath Perera, who is a level II qualified coach. He has represented the county in the Under-19 team and has many years of coaching experience to his name. Perera dedicates his entire time to the success of the academy and its students and stated that looking at all the personal achievements of the students as well as the team’s performances I am really happy as a coach and am very proud to be coaching them.
He is supported by his two assistant coaches Chaminda Jayasinghe, who is also a level II qualified coach as well as a certified umpire and Maduranga Soysa, a level I qualified coach who has the experience of playing cricket in Melbourne, Australia. The excellence of the coaching staff is represented by the remarkable achievements of the MCACA’s teams. The team has won numerous awards at all the leading tournaments conducted in Sri Lanka. The team has played in the Nelson Mendis Invitational Tournament since 2007 and has progressively reached the top to be awarded the Runners-up trophy in 2010. Just four years after its commencement, the Under-13 team emerged winners at the A. G. D. Cricket Academy Invitational Tournament in 2006. The MCACA are the reigning champions of the Roy Dias Invitational Under- 12 Tournament, which they have won for two consecutive years. The MCACA hosts the prestigious MCA Cricket Academy Invitational Tournament with the participation of over 40 local as well as foreign teams. The Under-13 team of the MCACA clinched the title in 2006 and 2010 whilst the Under-15 team is the current champion.
The MCA provides an array of modern equipment for training of the students including two indoor wickets, video cameras enabling students to evaluate their work, a bowling machine as well as its own grounds, to name a few. Three outstanding students are rewarded lifetime scholarships annually and students in need are provided with financial aid and cricketing equipment to enable them to pursue their goals. One such recipient, 15-year-old Geeshanth Panditharatne who has been a student of the MCA since the age of eight, stated that he was fortunate to join the MCACA. “The MCACA helped me develop my techniques, leadership qualities, sportsmanship and helped me represent Royal College as a player, a captain and my country in the Under15 team”.
The MCACA provides students with the opportunity to meet Sri Lankan players such as Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Marvan Atapattu and the likes as they are periodically invited to address the students on key issues relating to cricket. The MCA’s Cricket Academy is greatly instrumental in aiding Sri Lankan students to achieve the Pinnacle of Success. They are proud to play their part as they mould, guide and train the future of Sri Lankan cricket.