Schools rugby has outgrown the images of its educational academies that make it unsafe to be left in the hands of amateur keepers with undisclosed motives:
Amid venue disputes and claims of financial rip-offs the new schools rugby season was launched on Wednesday as Sports Minister Harin Fernando joined the scrum but passed the buck side-stepping the mess.
With the best rugby playing schools protesting the manner in which the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA) will help itself to gate money at matches to be played at neutral venues, Minister Fernando declared the problem was not for him to sort out effectively putting the ball in the hands of Education Minister Susil Premajayanth who was also present to tackle.
“I have nothing to do with this (super round matches at neural venues) it is a matter for the Minister of Education to decide on. I know there is a tradition in schools playing their matches on their home venues and I wish the SLSRFA and the schools will discuss the matter and come to a settlement”, said Minister Fernando who is known to grasp any opportunity to project his rugby playing days from a 10-year old at St. Joseph’s College.
The SLSRFA which is run by officials whose credentials are alien and unknown could not offer anything thorough to prove that schools with their own home grounds will be able to host their matches without interference. “We only proposed to play the super round matches at neutral venues and we have no intention of taking the gate money from these matches. We want to discuss the matter with the schools that have raised concerns”, said Kamal Ariyasinghe, the president of the SLSRFA at the tournament’s launch.
Although directing their team captains to grace the tournament’s launch, school representatives told the Sunday Observer on the sidelines that they will stick to their guns to make sure they play their matches on home grounds and be entitled to their gate money.
The whole episode has caught nearly every rugby follower and administrator by surprise and a former Sri Lanka Rugby president Lasitha Gunaratne and ex-police prop Hafeel Marso could only witness the proceedings being among the audience.
Overall the attraction of schools rugby in the present era has exceeded all expectations and dwarfed all other domestic sports in the country.
It can no longer be looked at as an event just for amateurs in view of the heavy spectator patronage at matches with schoolboys playing like professionals that in turn have brought in heavy investment for schools from high-end corporate bodies clamouring to advertise making the scenario too tempting for the SLSRFA to ignore.
Five years ago, the parent body of the sport, Sri Lanka Rugby, estimated schools rugby to have a market value in excess of Rs 200 million for commercial stake holders which in today’s money could be inflated to Rs 500 million annual investment with schoolboys playing like crowd pulling professionals.
Dialog the main stakeholder did not reveal figures but their sponsorship is speculated to be between 70 to 100 million.
Group 1: Isipathana College, St. Anthony’s College, S. Thomas’ College, Trinity College, DS Senanayake College, Dharmaraja College, Science College, Sri Sumangala College
Group 2: St. Peter’s College, Royal College, St. Joseph’s College, Kingswood College, Wesley College, Zahira College, Thurstan College, Vidyartha College
