Royal patronage for track and field

Royal College, Colombo, a school that feed national level players for almost every sports discipline in the country are planning to go a step further this time in the field of athletics. The Old Royalists Athletics Club plans an inaugural Quadrangular Athletic Championship 2015 to be held on August 1st at the Royal College Senior grounds.

A school that can boast of many athletes who represented the school at national and international level in the caliber of Summa Navaratnam, T.D.S.A. Dissanayake (Jungle), Darrel Liversz, Chrysantha Ferdinando, Basil Henricus and Charith Kapukotuwa to name a few. They brought many accolades to the school as well as the country in the early days.

In a press briefing held at the Royal College last Wednesday it was revealed that the main objective of stag- ing this meet with a view of developing athletics at a broader level in order to generate competitive participants at the global arena. The meet will be participated by four leading Boys schools – Royal College, S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia, St. Josephs College Colombo and Maris Stella College, Negombo along with Four Girls schools Ladies College, Visakha Vidyalaya, Musaeus College and Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya. The champs will receive the glittering ORAC Shield in both segments.

Old Royalists Athletics Club believes that an iconic Athletic Championships as such would provide an ideal platform for young and talented athletes to showcase their talents. This event which will be an annual ‘blue ribbon’ championship, unlike any of its precedents, combines the passion of young men and women who pursue athletics at school level to set mark and realize its potential in a broader spectrum that will one day allow them to approach the global arena, the apex of which will be the Olympics.

Summa Navaratnam, a champion athlete and sportsman in his own right who was crowned the Fastest Man in Asia in the 1950s will grace the occasion as the Chief Guest.

This Quadrangular will comprise of more than seventy five events at different age groups and to be conducted under the guidance of a professional panel of judges from the Ministry of Sports.

Team captains: Bishop’s College - Tirani Kodippili, Visakha Vidyalaya – Anudi Liyanagunawardena, Ladies College – Ranella Cooray, Musaeus College – Salmi Ranapatabendi

Royal College – P.B. Pathirana, S. Thomas’ College – Dinul Welgama, S. Joseph’s College – Damindu Darshana, Maris Stella College – Anjana Isuru