The Hon. Sujeewa Dissanayake
Hon. Sujeewa Dissanayake highlighted the decline in sporting pathways from leading Kurunegala schools in cricket and netball, despite their historic contribution to national teams and championships. He cited the lack of coaching support at Holy Family Convent and the case of under-19 cricketer Akain Amarajeewa, and asked what legal measures would be taken to ensure talented youth receive opportunities without undue interference from old boys’ and old girls’ groups.
Verbatim record (translated)
Machine-translated from Sinhala / Tamil / English¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, my second supplementary:
¶ 02 Kurunegala is famed for two main sports. For netball, Holy Family Convent and Maliyadeva Girls’ College are renowned; for cricket, St. Anne’s College and Maliyadeva College are renowned. In 1988 Ranjith Madurasinghe, in 1997 Lanka de Silva, and in 1999 Eric Upashantha and Rangana Herath progressed through school cricket there to the national team. Since then, no players from those schools have been selected to the national cricket team, and netball at Holy Family has declined with no coach, though they have been national champions 12 times. A promising under-19 cricketer, Akain Amarajeewa, currently with the highest strike rate in his age group nationally, is from there. Yet schools around Kurunegala are not providing the necessary support to promising athletes, with undue influence from some old boys and old girls. What legal steps will you take to ensure opportunities for such talented youth?
Provenance
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- Hansard, Wednesday, 19 March 2025 ·No. 1748499233099643 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
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Cite as: The Hon. Sujeewa Dissanayake. 10th Parliament, Parliament of Sri Lanka. Hansard, 19 March 2025. No. 1748499233099643. Politick, https://staging.politick.io/lk/speeches/25163