Sabaragamuwa Stallions conduct rugby workshop in Galle

Following the success of an awareness programme conducted in Jaffna, the Sabaragamuwa Stallions took the initiative to organise a rugby workshop in Galle recently.

The workshop was conducted at St. Aloysius College, Galle with over 80 students participating across several age groups that also included the first XV side of the school. A classroom session was conducted for parents and students followed by a field session for the students. The workshop aimed to create awareness for the sport while encouraging younger students of the school to take- up rugby. It also aimed to create awareness among parents, thereby encouraging them to support the sport and participation in it.

The sessions conducted comprised of a classroom session that taught the students the importance of sports and its positive longterm impact, while the field sessions focused on skills development. The sessions were conducted under the guidance of veteran coach Tony Amit with the assistance of Shantha Dharmarathne, the junior rugby coach of Zahira College.

Speaking at the event, Waruna de Silva, Director Operations of the Sabaragamuwa Stallions mentioned that the workshop was conducted in line with the next Carlton Sevens that is scheduled to be held in Galle. He stated that, “Together with the Assistant Principal of St. Aloysius Collage Galle, Sarath Ranaweera, the Sabaragamuwa Stallions felt that a programme of this nature will give students an opportunity to understand the benefits of sports and how it adds value and enriches their lives, while also encouraging more students to take up rugby at the school level.”

This is the third such event organised by the Sabaragamuwa Stallions. A similar event was also held at S. Thomas’ Collage Mt. Lavinia in June 2012, where the junior rugby players of the school got the opportunity to meet the four All Blacks players who represented the Sabaragamuwa Stallions at the Carlton Rugby Sevens in 2012. Subsequently, a workshop was organised together with t he Security Fo r c e s Headquarters – Jaffna at the Duraiappa Stadium in Jaffna. Over 80 students from seven schools in the area participated in this workshop that included both classroom and field sessions. Additionally, a workshop was also conducted for the coaches of the schools with the intent of raising the standard of rugby by improving their coaching skills.

As one of the founding franchises of the Carlton Super Sevens, the Sabaragamuwa Stallions embarked on this initiative which will nurture Sri Lankan sports and enable schoolchildren to learn the spirit of fair-play, teamwork and together ness. The Sabaragamuwa Stallions is managed by NSports; a national franchise of Sri Lanka’s elite rugby 7s competition, Carlton Rugby 7s. The franchise is owned by Nimal Perera, the Managing Director of Royal Ceramics, Chairman of Pan Asia Bank and Deputy Chairman of Vallibel One. For more information or images contact the Sabragamuwa Stallions via email at sabaragamuwastallions@gmail.com