Dinesha: Sri Lanka's first Woman International Hockey Umpire
Former Sri Lanka Women’s Hockey Captain and current Hockey coach of Bishops College, Colombo, Dinesha Perera, became the first Lady Hockey Umpire from Sri Lanka to be promoted an International Umpire. This rare honour was bestowed on her following her excellent performances as an umpire at the recently concluded Asian Hockey Federation Cup Tournament held in Bangkok. Prior to that, Ms Perera officiated as an Umpire at the Under (U)-18 Asia Cup Tournament in Bangkok and at the U-21 Asia Cup Tournament in Singapore in 2011 and 2012, and also at the World League Hockey Tournament 2016 in Singapore.
Dinesha started her Hockey career at the tender age of 9 and represented St. Pauls Girls School, Milagiriya, Captaining the U-13 and U-15 teams, and then switched schools, going on to represent and Captain Sirimavo Bandaranaike Balika Vidyalaya. She represented and Captained the Combined Colombo Schools, Sri Lanka Schools, Western Province, Colts Cricket Club and the Colombo Hockey Association Team during her playing career. A noteworthy feature is that she captained all the teams she represented, proving her dominance as a player.
At National level too she carved her name in gold by representing the Sri Lanka U-16 Women’s Hockey team at the Junior Asia Cup Hockey Tournament held in Singapore in 1996. She was the Vice-captain of the Sri Lanka U-18 Women’s Hockey team at the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) Cup tournament held in Hong Kong in 2000. She also captained the Sri Lanka Schools U-21 Women’s team at the 6-a-side tournament held in Singapore in 2001.
She represented the National team for many years and had the distinction of Captaining the National team at the World League Hockey Tournament held in Malaysia in 2012, and was also the Skipper of the National Team at the AHF Cup Tournament 2012, in Singapore. She was a dynamic player and was the 2nd highest goal scorer at the AHF Cup Tournament in Singapore in 2003, where Sri Lanka won the Silver Medal.
Her passion for Hockey led her to umpiring as well as coaching, where she excelled in both departments. She successfully completed AHF Level 1 and 2 courses in Malaysia in 2011 and 2013, and was the only lady coach from Sri Lanka to pass the Level 2 coaching course. She showed her prowess in Umpiring too, when she successfully completed the AHF Umpires Course in Malaysia in 2012, and has officiated at many schools, district, provincial and the defence services tournaments over the years.
She also had the honour of Representing Sri Lanka at the 3rd World Youth Hockey Promoters Festival conducted by the Federation of International Hockey held in Santiago de Chile in 2005.
Dinesha proved her talents in coaching too and was the coach of the Western Province Team in 2014. She has been coaching Bishops College since 2009.