One of the top sportsmen of Kandy, was NimaL Lewke, an outstanding sportsman, coach, administrator and top class referee with a vision to produce results besides being a crack police commando with the Special Task Force (STF) where he served as Commandant and Deputy Inspector General. He excelled in boxing, played cricket and rugby and ended up as the president of Sri Lanka Rugby and Referees.
Nimal Lewke played cricket, football, hockey and also was an athlete in his sporting career while at St. Sylvester’s College in Kandy. His pet sport at school was boxing, as a boxer he represented Sri Lanka at the King’s Cup Boxing championship in Bangkok, Thailand and the TATA sports festival in India in 1972. As a schoolboy he won the Best Boxer’s trophy at the Intermediate Championships in 1970. His rugby career began at Kandy Sports Club under the guidance of Maurice.Perera Later joined Police as a sub-inspector and retired as a senior DIG having represented the law enforcement authority as rugby scrum half and flanker. He was a member of four police teams that won the Clifford Cup in 1972, 1973 and 1979 and in 1980 under his leadership.
Lewke also wielded the willow for Police in the Sara Trophy. His achievements in the field of rugby coaching have been unparalleled He coached St. Peter’s College, S. Thomas’ College, Lewke guided them well. His coaching turned truly professional when in 1995 he enrolled at Kandy SC which became Triple champs for the first time in history.
As an administrator at Sri Lanka Rugby, Lewke played a leading role to entice foreign teams to visit the country at a time when security issues were a major concern during the civil war and one of the events hosted was the Asiad in 2007 for which he received accolades from President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He also served as president of the Asian Rugby Football Union.
To cap it all he received the “Kreeda Bushana” or Lifetime Award at the Presidential Sports Awards for his excellent contribution to Sri Lanka sports as a sportsman, administrator, referee and coach.
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