The Mayor of Kandy Kesara Senanayake is going all out to support sport and physical activity in Kandy. This strategy sets out his vision for Kandy to be the most active and socially-integrated city in the country.
The Kandy Mayor has an unwavering belief in the power of sport to bring Kandy citizens together to improve their lives. Sports helps community to come together to foster social integration which will help Kandy’as a destination for major sporting events.
The Mayor believes sport is a powerful tool for social change, and can be used to address a range of issues facing communities. He is all out to initiate his strategy for sports and physical activity in Kandy. . Kandy Municipal Council is blessed with over twenty seven playgrounds and forty five community centres where indoor sports is played. All playgrounds are small and he is keen to expand them and help the schools and clubs to do their sports. . At present there are many schools and clubs without grounds .
The only ground they had for matches like football,rugger and hockey was Bogambara and that too was taken over by the Sports Ministry in late 1990’s. When it was under the Municipality the ground charged only a few hundred rupees. Today the price is sky-high and poor schools and clubs are finding it difficult to pocket out this money. Sad to say this ground is under renovation for the last two years,.
Bogambara is a multi-purpose stadium in Kandy and it is one of the oldest grounds in the country. The Stadium was used mostly for rugby, football and hockey. In early days cricket too was played and this was the venue for the first unofficial test cricket match. It was in 1897 the grounds were converted from a lake to a playing field. At one time it was the site for carnivals, games circuses and gymkhana activities and even as an execution ground during the British occupation.
A number of sporting clubs including Kandy Sports Club,Young Stars SC, Young Wanderers SC, Green Field SC and schools including St.Anthony’s, Trinity College, Sri Rahula College, St. Paul’s(now known as Sri Sumangala College), Dharmaraja College and Kingswood College used the venue to conduct their sports. . In the early days Bogambara was also used for sports like elle, bahu, thattu and gudu
Today there is a crying need for more and more playgrounds with many youngsters taking to sports this will be of great help to put youth of today on the correct path.
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