Wesley College rugby will benefit immensely with sponsors coming in to help the school maintain steady financial support towards the development of the game.
They just celebrated their Sesquicentennial (150th year) of the school and will now be looking forward to improve the standards of rugby in the near future. This will be their 68th year in rugby that has seen many good players being produced.
However, the team faced one of the most unlucky periods last season as they suffered nail-biting losses.
The most significant support comes by way of the president of the Old Boys Association and former captain of the College rugby team Navin de Silva who will be sponsoring ten players of the team.
The main sponsor of the team is Citizen Development Bank (CDB) with contributions coming in from Deedat, HNB as the insurance partner and Apperton as the nutrition partner and many individuals too willing to make contributions.
One individual has promised to supply the stockings and other the clothing.
Wesley College is the fourth oldest school to play rugby in Sri Lanka and is looking forward to improve their standard and hopefully win a trophy this time around. This year promises to be another exciting chapter in their rugby history.
Principal of Wesley College Avanka Fernando said that this is a very significant year for the College. He said that it was exciting to see the rugby season about to kick off and they have a lot of expectation from the team.
“Rugby has taken a prominent place when it comes to the excitement. We want to see that this year we have a team that will perform well. We hope this year will be a blessed season for Wesley rugby.
“Without sponsors it is difficult to manage the season. It is my duty to thank the sponsors CDB who have come forward for the past many years. We are thankful to the many individuals who have pledged to support us as well,” said Fernando.
The launching ceremony of the sponsors took place at the Rev. John Wesley Bungalow at Karlsruhe Gardens on Friday (7).
Navin de Silva the president of the OBA said that rugby has been elevated to a level and it was possible due to the generous support by the sponsors. The school alone cannot afford to play this game in the current situation.
“Everything is surrounded with money and if we need to compete with other schools competitively we need sponsors. We are thankful to everybody especially the CDB who has been with us for a long time now,” said Navin de Silva.
Wesley will open their campaign against Zahira College in Maradana on June 15.
Flanker Shem Mendis, a third year coloursman, will lead the Double Blues with another third year player in centre Dillon de Silva as Vice-Captain.
Wesley showed immense potential with an extremely young outfit last season and managed to retain the Blaze Trophy by winning it back-to-back for the first time since 1997/98 against Kingswood College.
Wesley College squad
Forwards: Shem Mendis (captain), Sandul Gammanpila, Sanruk Gamage, Shamry Fayeek, Hashim Thabith, Naham Hemachandra, Hamdaan Shafraz, Ashen de Silva, Nelith Hapugalle, Pawan Thiranagama, Keshara Rah, Jazeel Zuhuri, Manuga Jayaweera, Nethan Diyon, Abdul Rahman, Naheel Jaya, Hivin Uthmika, Tahir Bazeer, Tharush Adithya Silva and Senuth Karunawansha
Backs: Dillon de Silva (Vice captain), Adeeb Yooseph, Mahathir Rabaan, Suhaib Nizam, Senura Nisal, Abdul Haadhi, Kaveesh Dilhara, Danush Dassanayaka, Kaizer Lye, Mahadev Methushan, Shehab Hisham, Matheesha Silva, Mohammed Fawaz, Parthana Sanjana, Jaward Marjan, Dinaru Dahamyuth, Mohamad Ajmal, Adeesha Vitharana, Shifaan Inthikab and Ahyan Johan.
