Our Sincere Gratitude to Asanga Seneviratne

Our Sincere Gratitude to Asanga Seneviratne

7/10/2018 12:03:46 PM

A highlight of appreciation to the outgoing president on his transformation and setting up the way forward of Sri Lanka Rugby.

Sri Lanka Rugby has been privileged to see some inspirational as well as legendary players who have worn the "Tuskers" jersey with pride and represented the country with distinction. By reading the above phrase we would be not surprised at the various names that you would be thinking of at this very moment.

We at Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) along with the Rugby Council decided to pen a few words to remember and appreciate the services of another iconic figure who has helped SLR reach greater heights through his commitment, passion towards the game and vision in administration while maintaining the countries rugby football status at the helm. So this note of appreciation is towards non-other than our outgoing President of SLR, Mr. Asanga Seneviratne.

We are extremely proud to share our success story in the recent past as we have made steady progress while consolidating our position in the Asian Rugby circuit while also setting up the platform to compete with the elite teams in the World Rugby. Thanks to the former S.Thomas', CR&FC, CH&FC and the national fly-half who had the vision to take SLR to another level which we see today comparing to the last decade.

Through the perception of Mr. Seneviratne, we have enjoyed a very successful period with impressive performances dished out by all of our rugby teams. During 2011- 2012, the 30 million rupees budget was taken up to over 190 million by now. Sri Lanka had the service of world-class players and coaches sharing their knowledge and expertise.

To name a few Phil Greening, Ben Gollings, Mat Turner (All from England) and the current coach Peter Woods (New Zealand) all are well-recognized individuals in the World Rugby. Women's World Cup winners Kat Merchant (England) and Linda Itunu (New Zealand) were among the international stars who took duties with the national women's set-up.

The Island nation had its moment when the world-class sevens players embraced Sri Lanka's invitation to compete in the Carlton 7s and Sri Lanka Super 7s during Mr. Seneviratne's tenure. Also, the cross-border Tri-Nation rugby between Sri Lanka, Poland, and Madagascar at the Serendib Cup was another landmark achievement for the country as a whole.

The 7s teams too were able to display some quality rugby throughout their hectic rugby calendar. In fact, it was a historic occasion when our Women's 7s team won their first ever silverware in the international stage when they won the Cup championship at the Borneo 7s in 2017. Credit should be duly given to Mr. Seneviratne as his vision and aim to develop the standard of Women's rugby has proven fruitful.

The Men's 7s team too fared well in their Asian 7s series. They finished in 4th place in the overall standings across the 3 legs in 2017. What we would also wish to state is that we managed to host the third and final leg at the picturesque Racecourse International stadium which emphasizes the hard work put in by Mr. Seneviratne and his team off the field for three consecutive years.

In addition to this Mr. Seneviratne has also been in the forefront to get World Rugby to launch a second tier tournament. A request made through Asia rugby so that it would provide teams and players the opportunity and the required exposure to develop further.

Our Junior Rugby teams U18's & U20's too have performed remarkably well. We are inspired by Mr.Seneviratne's attempts to build on this foundation and take it to the next level. Mr.Seneviratne has always been in the forefront seeking to launch high-performance programs for junior rugby to ensure that young players get the best and immaculate training, making the transition to club rugby a much smoother one and will help realize their dream of making it to the national team in the future.

Of course none of these would be possible without the stable financial backing under his watchful administration, SLR has been able to sustain the development through the valuable sponsorship such as Dialog who has been powering the national men's team while SAGT has been scrumming down with the women's team and has helped the ladies team improve leaps and bounds. In addition to this during his term as the vice president at SLR, he was able to get a Rs 50 million grant from the ministry of sports to uplift the standards of the rugby.

Mr. Seneviratne has proved his mastermind administrative sparks and not only being in the top seat at SLR, he was also a valuable member at the Asia Rugby Council where he served as the Hony. Secretary in 2014-15. At present Mr. Senaviratne has been appointed as the Vice President at the National Olympic Council (NOC) and he will have a massive task as 31 sports come under the NOC. We believe Mr. Seneviratne's appointment will prosper NOC in the coming years.

Overall by this brief description itself, it's evident enough to understand the immense role Mr. Seneviratne has been overlooking and leading from the front. Of course, the incoming president will have huge boots to fill simply because of the ambitious and highly organized administration, as such has been Mr.Seneviratne's aura during his time at the helm as President of Sri Lanka Rugby.

We end this note by firstly thanking Mr. Asanga Seneviratne for his yeomen service towards Sri Lanka Rugby while wishing him the very best in his future endeavors!

-SLR Council-