St. Sebastian's celebrate 50 years of basketball

THANKS to Rev. Bro. Joseph Patrick's innovative ideas, St. Sebastian's College started basketball in 1953 when he laid a modern basketball court prompted by the enthusiasm of the Director, Rev. Bro. Anslem Calixtus.

It was Bro. Calixtus who inaugurated the court with an easy 'lay up'. The American Embassy team played an inaugural exhibition game with the College whose first coach was James Verghese, an accomplished cager and teacher at College now domiciled in Florida.

St. Sebastian's won the very first Colombo Schools Basketball tournament in 1954. Over the years St. Sebastian's College basketball players were regular members of Colombo YMCA team always considered a dominant force.

The All-Island Sri Lanka Schools Basketball Association was formed in 1960 with Rev. Fr. Peter Pillai as the President, Rev. Bro. Patrick as Vice President and Ram Sundaralingam as the Secretary, A. J. Daniels was appointed the coach of St. Sebastian's in 1960.

In 1961, St. Sebastian's emerged runner-up. In 1963 the College beat St. Benedict's and emerged champions. The scores were 50-47 and it was called a dream game by Rev. Frs. Webber and Heber, a game the like of which was not seen even in America. St. Sebastian's was the first school team to tour India on the invitation of Coimbatore Basketball Association.

The two courts were laid by the players themselves, with funds collected by E. N. S. Fernando. The late Albert Perera was instrumental in constructing the concrete arches for the board.

Through the years St. Sebastian's produced her share of national players and fielded teams that won many a championship. Our coaches who have coached national teams are Vincent Fernando, Duncan Jayawardena and Climarcus Fernando.

In 1963 the College produced its first ever schoolboy in the national team, Nihal Fernando and he toured Jakarta with the national side. Subsequently it almost became a habit for the college to produce national players of great calibre.

The first Sebastianite to captain the national basketball team was Duncan Jayawardena. C. K. Alwis was the other national captain produced by this institute in 2004.

Samson de Mel was the vice captain of the team, which represented the country at SAARC Games held in Sri Lanka. Srikalal Fernando and Priya Cooray are well-known names in the basketball circuit and they have gone on to captain junior national teams.

In 1960, the college appointed E. N. S. Fernando (popularly known as 'Earl Sir' to all) as the master-in-charge of basketball and he served in this capacity for almost 25 years and is responsible for the high standard of basketball at the college.

Currently another old boy Shelton Fernando is doing an admirable job to maintain these standards under the guidance of the Rev. Fathers who have taken over the administration of the school from the La Sallian Brothers. Once again the game of basketball is prospering.

The golden era of basketball at the college was from 1971 to 1987. The team which won the under-13 championship in 1973 was trained by Elmo Jayawardena.

In the next age group of under-15 it was Clemarcus Fernando who took over the job. This particular team has gone on record to win all championships that came its way until they left school after annexing the under-19 championship.

This is perhaps a unique record unparalleled in any school for any sport.

In 2004 an Old Sebastianite, Charles Perera was appointed the coach of the national team which toured India.

The college now celebrates 50 years of the game with the Invitational Schools' Under-19 tournament conducted at its courts. Matches were played on 18th and 19th June and then from 24th to 26th June.

The grand finals will be at 4 p.m. on the 26th.

Vista Engineering donates the trophy for the golden jubilee and medals will be awarded to the champions, runners-up and the best losers as well as best player, best defensive player and the best offensive player, sponsored by the Dilaj Lounge (Pvt) Ltd.

The organisers invite all past captains for the event and a group photograph will be taken with prominent old boy Major General Lawrence Fernando, the chief guest.