Athletics
Athletics has always been a significant part of Trinity since the very beginning, the tradition still remains unchanged. This year [2018] the athletics pool coached by Mr. H.I. Ariyarathne, Mr. L. Rathnayake and Mr. N. Bandara, captained by S.N. Hettiarachchy took part in 2 major competitions, one being the zonal athletic championship where they emerged champions, maintaining their streak for the 26th consecutive years. 38 Athletes of Trinity were placed 1st ,2nd, of 3rd against the competition of 30 others schools of the zone.
Some of the senior athletes also participated in the Junior Nationals athletic meet where P. Rathnayake was placed 3rd in the U18 110m hurdles event and former captain Ruchika Kumarage was selected to represent Sri Lanka in the South Asian Junior Athletic Championship on account of him placing 3rd in the U20 110m hurdles event.
The athletics team will be taking part in a number of upcoming meets this year, namely:
- Relay Carnival championship
- Central Province athletic championship
- Sir John Tarbet athletic championship
- All island athletic championship.
History and background
In the early part of the century athletics was acclaimed as one of the activities that brought so many laurels and glory to the school. Many people attributed it to the sports policy of the school which was from the earliest times aimed at all-round sportsmanship rather than excellence in specialization.
It held well in times when competition was limited to the few privileged schools. Today, there are schools where athletics is the main activity while at Trinity it is one of many. Hence, to reach high standards in this field, boys must be prepared to go in for specialized and individual training for longer periods rather than limit it to one particular season. A boy in Trinity aiming to be an all-rounder involving him in all the sports available in the school cannot be expected to compete against those who have dedicated themselves to train in a chosen event, over a long period.
Most Trinitians, some of whom with modest ability, harboured the dream of making their mark in the more glamorous sports and winning the prestigious colours and lions. When they awoke from the dream to realize that only a few could be members of the cricket eleven or the rugby fifteen it was too late to start athletics which required an early start and dedicated individual training over long periods.
The first effective step to bring back this sport to its former glory was taken by Mr. Gunasoma Nanayakkara who took over in 1958 as athletic coach in the days of Mr. Cedrick Oorlofff. He introduced that ingenious scheme called the standard tests as a part of the Inter House Sports Meet. Every boy had to go through a standard test before competing at the final sports meet. That enabled the coach to spot out the boys with the ability to go into further training and to make a success of it. The scheme is in operation to this date.
After Mr. Nanayakkara had taken charge of the primary school as Head Master, coaching of athletics was left to Mr. J.M.N.S. Perera. Fortunately, he had the assistance of Messrs Upali Nanayakkara, S. Ariasingam, Leslie Handunge, and that versatile sportsman Major Bertie Dias.
Mr. Perera had methods of his own, but amazingly the results were spectacular. It was in the Wickrasinghe era that the laurels in athletics reached its zenith. During the period from 1980 to 1987 the achievements were stupendous and in many ways unsurpassed, and though it was never thought in those days, to call it the golden era of athletics in the school is not an overstatement.
In the 1982-1987 period out of the total number of awards Trinity carried away nine of them. The number of gold silver and bronze medals reached a record number. Trinity carried away the Junior Tarbat and the Jeapherson Challenge Trophy which was won after many decades. This year we were undisputed all-round champions.
Towards the end of Wickramasinghe era the old coaches faded away and it was a gigantic task for the new principal Lt. Col. L.M. De Alwis to replace them and to equal the achievements of his predecessor. We cannot always produce champion sides, but standards were maintained right to the end of the period. Fortunately, there was no decline although we had no phenomenal performances so notable as in the eighties.
Coaching during the period of Principal De Alwis was given to Messrs. H.G. Ariyaratne, and G.R. Dhanapala while Messrs M.P. Premasiri, and W.G. Karunaratne were Masters in Charge. They strove to keep the high standards set by their predecessors in the previous decade. 1990 was a bright year with Trinity emerging champions in the Kandy District and Central Province meets. The junior team won the Junior Tarbat Cup at the Junior Public Schools Meet. In the Senior Public Schools Meet we won the All Island Track Championship and also carried away the Outstation Tarbat. In addition to these we also won the all-round Van Geyzel Shield, Brother John Cruz Challenge Cup, and the Shirley Elangasinghe Challenge Cup.
In 1991 the juniors repeated the performance of the previous years and emerged champions at the Junior Public School Meet. The Outstation Tarbat Cup was taken by the senior team to make a year of good performance. The two years following were modest with only under-17 doing well at the National School Games held at Anuradhapura. Thereafter, till 1997 the achievements were sporadic but athletics was now well on its way up becoming a popular sport with standards improving. The noteworthy feature of this period was the emergence of rural schools strong and spirited to compete with the more affluent schools in the cities. In 1994 only the juniors and under-13 emerged champions. Again the following year they did well at the All Island Relay Carnival. Under-15 in 1995 and under-16 in the following year carried the Tarbats. Training for athletics has its own benefits and in the country there is a new interest to make competition stiff.
