By Shannon Nicholas

Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) held their Annual General Meeting (AGM) for 2017/2018 at the National Olympic House (NOC) Auditorium in Colombo on Sunday.

SLR Board Members at the head table (from left): Rohan Gunaratne (Executive Director), Lasitha Gunaratne (Vice-President), Asanga Seneviratne (President), Nazeem Mohamed (Secretary), Ray Abeywardane (Treasurer) Pix by Kushan Pathiraja

The AGM was held in view of electing members for the ensuing year but there were no changes as the outgoing committee of the Appeal Board retained their positions.

After the minutes were read and the report for the past year was presented, Asanga Seneviratne, President SLR addressed the gathering and said that rugby in the country is heading in the right direction and given that it is assisted, it could be further developed.

“Sri Lanka Rugby is progressing fast. And it’s heading in the correct direction. The Sri Lanka Super 7s is our main event for now. We have decided to conduct the first-leg matches in Kandy next week while the second-leg matches will be held over at the Race Course Grounds,” he said.

Speaking further he said, “Women’s rugby is doing extremely well as the Ladies were part of an exciting campaign. I see a great future for Women’s rugby in the country. We observed great enthusiasm from provincial level after our Ladies created history by winning the Borneo Sevens Cup Championship in May. One club has initiated to form a Women’s Team and I hope each and every other club continues this. Given these factors, we could expect a huge success in Sri Lanka Rugby in the upcoming years.”

“We are planning on improving our marketing strategies in order to uplift and promote the game across the country. Social media will be a key aspect in our future plans. New rules and regulations will be implied in regard of player acquisition from other teams. Clubs will be advised to be more considerate regarding player transfers,” he said.

After the vote of thanks, new Life Members were elected in view of recognising individual services by former players over the past years while Anton Benedict was named a Trustee in place of Minister Malik Samarawickrama.