A poem by Longfellow comes to mind Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us, Footprints on the sands of time “When comes such another”
indeed.
At present Rugby in Sri Lanka becoming most interesting game among the schools. There are many academies and clubs working around the country to promote the game. Sri Lanka is producing very promising rugby players every year. Leading schools have many facilities in the game to take part in schools rugby while many of the rural upcoming schools and private schools do not have sufficient facilities to involve with the game.
When the Rugby season comes many schools use to come and watch the game in Colombo hoping to realize the dream one day in their school careers. However, due to huge financial needs during the last decade to date there is no significant improvement in rural and private schools take part in schools rugby tournaments. All good coaches are centred on leading schools. There is no sign of social responsibility addressed by the leading players, clubs and Rugby academies in Sri Lanka.
However, New Zealand and rugby go together like fish and chips, so it’s hard to imagine a time when the two weren’t closely linked. Their lives are closely interconnected with the black jercy. Making a meaningful contribution to New Zealand society beyond 80 minutes of rugby is a responsibility New Zealand Rugby takes very seriously. In 2010 and 2011, the rugby community came together to support those affected by the Christchurch earthquakes, including:
• In partnership with Canterbury RFU and their sponsors and partners; free admission to the Canterbury v Wellington ITM Cup match was provided with over 32,000 Cantabrians attending the match
• The All Blacks, individual players and staff provided support to various fundraising and community service campaigns.
• In response to the last February earthquake, New Zealand Rugby launched its first ever direct appeal to rugby fans and supporters around the world on behalf of the children affected by the disaster. The All Blacks Earthquake Appeal for Christchurch Kids directed donations to the two All Blacks’ official charities, KidsCan Charitable Trust and Plunket New Zealand, to support their work to help the youngest residents of Christchurch and their families as they tried to deal with the aftermath of this tragedy.
Rugby players are community leaders
Their commitment in New Zealand, to do the right thing revolve around the safety and welfare of those involved in the game; backing the Official Charity of New Zealand Rugby and the All Blacks - Cure Kids - to make a difference to New Zealand’s children battling life threatening illnesses; working with UNICEF, their International Partner for Children.
Opportunities given to schools
Handful of opportunities were given to the community to meet Sevens players, the students mingled with players from South Africa, Argentina, Russia, Spain, Samoa and Wales. There leadership programmes grounded in schools to welcome the Sevens players.
Rugby in Sri Lanka
How many players at school level lagging behind without any motivation to play. Some do not have sufficient financial backup even to find a pair of boots. Nutritional aspects have been neglected in most of the instances.
Those who have sufficient financial backing with the skill move forward in Sri Lankan Rugby. Skilled players in the rural areas do not have better grounds to play hence many injuries are frequent.
However, our players are confident with their inner strength. Sri Lankan rugby has a greater role to play in strengthening the school rugby and especially rural rugby. It should not limit to few schools having every facility to raise their players.
Handful of opportunities are not available for rural rugby teams to participate in international rugby rather it has been a very commercialize profiteering endeavour in Sri Lanka. More politics are involved in this game of strength. Hence, we are not capable of producing international players with a sense of social responsibility.
Players need to understand the importance of grooming the next level of players with a sense of community leadership.
It is the need of the hour to rethink how Sri Lankan players can lead, develop and support people within rugby to be better people and collectively to create socially responsible rugby players, teams, volunteers and experiences.
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