At Piliyandala Central he had a knack for sports and participated in all the games that were played there. Ran the marathon and took part in the cycle races at the village “Avurudhu Uthsavaya.”He was the games captain at school. I interviewed Dileepa Perera the OIC Kohuwela.
He was eighteen by the time Kabaddi was introduced to his school. Dileepa took a liking to Kabaddi because it was physical and one had to use the principles of Buddhism for concentration purposes. He knew he had to build his physique and he managed to have a mini gym in his study room at home, to gain match practise he formed a Kabaddi team in school.Dileepa’s determination to excel in Kabaddi knew no bounds and at the coaching camp held in school he became the best player and was rewarded to play at a higher level and finally ended up becoming a Kabaddi maestro in Sri Lanka.
Handsome, articulate and pleasant he was when I interviewed the present Officer in Charge of the Kohuwela Police Station. He captained the Police Kabaddi team many a time bringing honour and glory to his team. He was an automatic choice in the Sri Lanka team and brought honour and glory to his country. Dileepa is also in line to become The President of The Kabaddi Association of Sri Lanka. At present he is highly involved with his duties as the OIC Kohuwela. His final ambition is to take Kabaddi to every remote village in Sri Lanka and unearth the hidden talents.
He mentioned to me that sport of any kind has not reached the remote villages of Sri Lanka depriving youth of participating in sport, and as a result we are not tapping talent at the right areas and Sri Lanka is lagging behind in all sports he lamented.
The amiable OIC was not only an outstanding sportsman but he was also bright in his studies. He was eligible to enter The Colombo Campus Commerce stream but he had two other choices as well, Kotalawela Defence Acadamy and the Police Force, ultimately he decided to join Police as a Trainee Sub Inspector.
Rewinding back to his early Kabaddi days, Dileepa’s talent was spotted by the famous Kalana Kabaddi Club Kolonnawa and he joined them. At the time forces were dominating Kabaddi but Kalana was never outdone by them.Galle district too had a strong Kabaddi team noted Dileepa.
Strengh and speed are the basic skills in Kabbadi and the maximum weight of a player is 80 kilos.in 1999, he got selected to the Sr Lanka squad as the youngest player and the only civilian player.In 2004 he became the captain of the Sri lanka Kabbadi team. In 2006 he represented the Sri Lanka Kabbadi team at the SAF GAMES.
Dileepa stated that the Indian Kabaddi players are outstanding because it’s in their blood and they meditate a lot which help them sometimes to float and give effective flying kicks. They mostly work in the Air Lines and also in the Railways but are devoting all their time to the sport.He was allowed to train only three months before a meet.He also participated in the 2007 Kabbadi World Cup held in India.At the age of 28 Deleepa gave up Kabaddi due to his profession and family comittments.
He was the Secretary of the police Kabbadi team from 2011 to 2013.he was the Vice President of The Sri Lanka Kabbadi Assosiation.He was also the coach of the mens and womens Sr Lanka junior Kabbaddi teams which toured Iran and won Bronze medals.
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