Lankan netballers to tour Australia and Botswana-by Dhammika Ratnaweera
National senior Netball team who selected for World Cup with Netball President Victoria Lakshmi head coach Thilaka Jinadasa and chairman of selectors Dhamayanthi Jayatilleka.
Source:Dailynews
Sri Lanka senior Netball team led by Gayanjali Amarawansa will embark on tours to Australia and Botswana to get more exposure before the World Netball Cup which is scheduled to be held from July 28 in South Africa.
This is a good opportunity for National Netball players to get much needed match exposure said Sri Lanka Netball Federation President Victoria Lakshmi in an exclusive interview with Daily News yesterday.
We are the Asian champions and we want to improve our ranking and my senior head coach Thilaka Jinadasa and team members are preparing to go on South African tour and they want to get match exposure before this world Cup and we are lucky to go on these two overseas tours. Netball Federation is doing a good job to promote this sport with the blessings of Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe and Sports Ministry and Sports Development Department to get overseas training. We know this is a very hard period to go on foreign tours to get much needed training before world Cup. Netball is the only Sri Lanka Ladies sport to qualify for world Cup and that is a great achievement by Sri Lankan lasses said Netball chief Victoria Lakshmi who also the Vice President of Asian Netball Federation as well as Asian Netball Director of the world Netball Body.
As a President I have big responsibility to build up National Netball both senior and Junior teams and this year is a busy schedule as Asian Junior Netball championship in South Korea from June 8 and senior World Cup in South Africa.
Sri Lankan Community led by Lawyer Nilmini Dissanayake who is the Melbourn Old Maliyadeva Balika President has organised this one week Australian training period from June 2 to 8 and Sri Lankan community in Melbourne hope to give their support to our National team and three officials Head Coach Thilaka Jinadasa, Assistant coach P. D. N Prasadi and team doctor from Sports Medical unit Dr Daminda Attanayake.
The Botswana tour is scheduled to commence from July 15 th to 23 on the way to South Africa for world Cup and this also very important to adjust to the conditions. To organise an overseas tour is not an easy task at this moment especially we must thank National Sports Council Chairman Arjuna Ranatunga who gave his approval to get this overseas training as he knows the value of this training. The former Sri Lanka world Cup winning skipper Ranatunga gave good recommendation while Private Secretary to the Sports Minister Lawyer Dinusha Ranasinghe also supports these tours said Netball President.
With out support of the Sports Ministry we couldn’t go on this journey while our official sponsor Dialog Axiata, Hyundai and Sri Lanka Cricket give Excellent support and few other sponsors for Clothing, shoes and etc gave good support to the teams and our supporting staff headed by head coach Thilaka Jinadasa, Assistant coach P. D. N Prasadi, team doctor Daminda Attanayake and her medical team is doing a great job for National team and players have responsibility to do their best at the world Cup.
Meanwhile National head coach Thilaka Jinadasa said the whole team( 15 players) is very keen to play World Cup and their preparation is very high. We requested to get International match exposure from Netball Federation and they gave that. During the Australian tour we have very important session with Australian National Assistant coach who is our own team member Tharjini Shivalingam . Tharjini ( Shiva) already based in Melbourne and she is scheduled to join our team for the one week training. From my appointment in February I had handled the team very well and my focus was maintain high mentally and physical fitness. I got the best team after Asian Championship and this team has good commitment and their dedication is very high said Thilaka Jinadasa who was a former Olympian hurdler .
I started the training with the support of famous Motivator Nalaka Hewa Madduma who gave good sessions to develop the National seniors mentality we used Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, Torrington grounds and Gateway International Rajagiriya courts for further training said Head coach Thilaka Jinadasa.
The players are ready to get overseas training before the World Cup. Especially we have to play against Jamaica, South Africa during World Cup and playing against Botswana in Botswana is a great opportunity to adjust to conditions added Thilaka Jinadasa.
