HARFA celebrates 10 years with three titles
Hosts HARFA clinched three championship titles while S. Thomas’ College Prep won one, at the Hisham Abdeen Rugby Football Academy (HARFA) 10th Anniversary Celebration Tour nament held at the Racecourse ground in Colombo.
HARFA won the Open Segment 1 Under- 21 Cup championhip beating Kandy Rugby Academy, and went on to secure the Under- 18 championship for the Fazal Burah Memorial Challenge Trophy, beating Presidents College 20- 0. The HARFA Under-14 team edged out Mahanama College 10- 5 to win the N.J. Mudannayake Memorial Challenge Trophy.
In the Under- 18 Segment, Kandy Rugby Academy won the Plate championship beating Palians School of Rugby by 12-7.
S, Thomas’ College Prep recorded a comfortable 17-5 win against HARFA Whites in the Under- 16 Segment final while Thurstan College and Rugby Promotional Foundation shared the Plate championship, after the final ended in a scoreless draw.
While HARFA Whites beat Mahanama 10- 5 in the Under- 14 Cup final, Rugby Promotional Foundation beat CH& FC Reds 10- 5 to clinch the Plate championship. Vidura College received a walkover from Dutugemunu MV, Monaragala in the Bowl championship final.
In the Open Segment 2 Under21 final, Sri Lions edged out Avissawella RFA 12-10 to win the Cup title, as Jawatta Lions overcame Old Wesleyites Sports Club to win the Over- 40 Cup championship.
Hisham Abdeen, the Managing Director of HARFA, who has taken his passion for the sport he has been involved with from his childhood schoolboy days donning the Sri Lanka Jersey and captaining the national team during his heyday to the next level, as HARFA celebrated its 10th year anniversary on a grand scale.
A legend for his heroics where he once ran down the mighty Japanese, Hisham will cap a 45- year long association with the game now serving in a demanding chore of fine tuning latent talent from the tender age of eight to top fight rugby players. Ten years in the job illustrates Hisham’s commitment to his task manning HARFA in this academy coaching concept which has transformed it to be the premier entity of its kind in town.