Vidura College Manager of Sports Upali de Silva felicitated
A felicitation ceremony to recognise the priceless service by Upali de Silva to Vidura College was held at the s chool assembly hall in Thalawathugoda recently. Mr. de Silva, who retired from Vidura College after serving the school for years as Manager of Sports, did a yeoman service to uplift the standards of sports activities at the school.
The ceremony was well attended by the school and administrative staff members, students -- most of them nurtured by de Silva’s guidance -sportspersons, support staff, parents and the principal D.G. Sumanasekara. The event started off by welcoming Mr. de Silva by the Vidura College Western Band, followed by a guard of honour by the cricket teams.
Mr. de Silva’s contributions, from introducing sports, popularising them among schoolchildren and then forming up formidable teams that competed at international events and producing national level athletes, were elaborated by the principal to the gathering.
“Mr. de Silva is a well qualified Physical Training Instructor (PTI) with international exposure. Since 1960 he was with the Education Department as a PTI and after serving years at government schools he joined S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia. Then he joined Lyceum International Schools before joining us at Vidura in 2006. He worked as the Sports Manager for 12 long years helping Vidura build up its image as a top contender in sports among other schools in the island. For that Mr. de Silva played a pivotal role. We are greatly honoured to have him among us,” Sumanasekara stated.
De Silva was presented with a memento by the principal for his untiring service rendered to Vidura while all young sportspersons who fostered by him made the occasion to pay their gratitude. Apart from his main roles at different schools, de Silva is an experienced umpire with a service period of 32 years. Altogether he has been involved for 55 years as a sports promoter at school and at different levels. The felicitation ceremony was organised by the Vidura College Sports Section.