Cowardly Jihadist bombings of unarmed civilians in churches and hotels have threatened to shatter or may have ruined the dreams and aspirations of many of the country’s youth rugby players as the 2019 inter-school season was put on hold with no proper hint of its recommencement.
The season was to enter its final phase after a three-week break on April 22 when the unprecedented tragedy occurred causing confusion and uncertainty as the best eight schools moved into top gear for a second round of matches that promised high quality fare.
Unlike past school rugby seasons where the winner was easily predicted, the 2019 showdown turned into a four-cornered contest with defending champions Royal College having their unbeaten run pulled down and St. Joseph’s College taking the top slot in the rankings.
In hot pursuit was St. Peter’s College, the Dark Horse threatening to kick out the rest while the fourth team Isipathana College gave their supporters rekindled hopes with a return to contention after many years.
But the bombings have not only been emotionally heart-breaking for the teams that also include S.Thomas’ College, Trinity College, Wesley College and Science College, but equally frustrating for many of the players who were looking forward to donning their College colours and jerseys for the last time.
“My players had much to look forward to as far as jobs and club offers were concerned. My fear is that so many opportunities could be lost”, said Isipathana College coach Lasintha de Costa.
Isipathana’s crowd-pulling players had their last training session on April 20 and were poised to take on S. Thomas’ College two days later in their opening second round contest when tragedy struck.
Costa said his players can only hope that the matches recommence and sees getting back into rhythm as the only hitch to overcome.
“When you train and peak for a certain occasion that does not come your way, the challenge can be doubled for a coach,” said Costa.
Like Isipathana,Wesley College also had a final practice session on the eve of the bombings and their players raring to move out for a showdown against top ranked St. Joseph’s College.
They have since stopped collective training not knowing when the League will recommence and coach Paul Toiya, a New Zealander, like the rest can only hope for a restart.
“The challenge now is to stay focused and concentrate, not lose the mindset and stay fit,” said Toiya. “But surely we have to be prepared and we know that as always.”
The season was thrown open by the Peterites who knocked the daylights out of Royal College whose unbeaten run from last year came to an end in front of a packed crowd that marked the final week of first round matches before the Sinhala New Year and Easter break.
The Peterites were scheduled to host Trinity College yesterday but with school rugby administrators struggling to come to grips with a security formula to restart the championship their preparations were brought to a halt.
“We were very much looking forward to the second round and the boys very keen to come out again,”said Peterite coach Rajeew Perera.
He has even proposed to the College’s sporting rector Fr. Trevor Martin to look into the prospects of hosting their second round matches by confining crowd attendance only to the parents of players and their closest supporters as a last resort.
Officials of the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association have put the ball into the hands of government Defence officials for advice on how and when to launch the deciding matches with time fast catching up.