The under-15 hockey team from TB Jayah Zahira College performed well to win their first ever hockey match in an inaugural hockey tournament organized by Colombo International Hockey Academy headed by Dr. Thushara Matiwalage held at the Astro Turf in Colombo recently.
They beat Bandaranayake College Gampaha by a solitary goal.
The tournament saw boys and girls teams taking the field which was a refreshing sight.
TB Jayah Zahira College comprises students in and around the vicinity of Slave Island in Colombo 2.
The guide and mentor of this new team is Shiran Maas Aaron, the legendary former Isipathana College and BRC player and the coach of a number of national players, coaches and umpires.
The veterans of this school who represented the Colombo Malay Cricket Club mooted the idea to form a home-grown hockey team with the idea of engaging the primary students in their free time thus ensuring their minds would not be drawn to the social ills prevalent today.
Club officials at that time gave the approval for this venture as a CSR project in the area surrounding The Padang or Malay ground.
The schools that participated at this inaugural U-15 tournament were Bandaranayake College – Gampaha, Sri Dharmaloka College – Kelaniya, Royal College Panadura, TB Jayah Zahira College – Colombo 2, Prince of Wales College Moratuwa, Hindu College Colombo 4 and Asoka College Maradana while the girls teams are Panadura Balika Vidyalaya, Dharmapala Vidyalaya – Pannipitiya, Yashodara Devi Balika – Gampaha, Yashodara Vidyalaya – Colombo, President’s College – Nawala and Harischandra College – Negombo.
