Dharmapala Vidyalaya Pannipitiya unveils the turf wicket of the newly developed playground today (September 1) at 2.00 pm. An eminent alumni of Olcott schools fraternity, the former president of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), Member of Parliament, Thilanga Sumathipala will be the chief guest. This historic occasion will coincide with a Col. Henry Steel Olcott commemoration cricket match between Old Dharmapalians XI and Olcott Schools combined XI on the new turf wicket.
Established in 1940 on a land owned by Ven. Anagarika Dharmapala, Dharmapala Vidyalaya, Pannipitiya is the largest Buddhist mixed school in Sri Lanka with over 5000 students and 225 teaching staff and one of the leading schools pioneered by Col. Henry Steel Olcott.
The playground was in an unusable condition with 90% of the ground devoid of grass. The Old Dharmapalian Sports Club and the Past Pupils Association with the blessings of the management of the Dharmapala Vidyalaya in the refurbishment and upgrading of the college grounds.
The new playground development project was launched in 2016 to develop the entire ground covering nearly five acres at an estimated cost of Rs.30 million. Of this amount approximately 90% has been expanded on the workload completed up to now with the former SLC President Thilanga Sumathipala having contributed a major share of this amount.
Following the redevelopment, the playground has become a masterpiece with 7turf wickets and a Matting wicket, 6 side nets, extended areas for Athletics, Soccer, Rugby and many other sports.It will also facilitate clubs and national level cricket and sports events. This high quality playground is equipped with over 100 nozzle sprinkling system and asound irrigation system which are mandatory for a playground of this caliber.
The re-developed playground of Dharmapala Vidyalaya also bridges a yawning gap (non-existence of a proper playground for cricket and other sports after Colombo up to Suriyawewa, Hambanthota), which will, undoubtedly, contribute to enhance cricket as well as the other sports nationally as well as internationally.
The playground originally came into being due to the untiring endeavours of then Principal of Dharmapala Vidyalaya, G C Edirisinghe.
Dharmapala’s first inter school cricket match was played with Mahinda College, Galle at Dharmapala grounds.
The late Mr.Kapugeekiyana, an active member of Old Dharmapalians Sports Club, was the first college captain.
The first win over a leading school was recorded during Dharmapala’s third year of cricket under the captaincy of Upali de Silva, against Dharmaraja College, Kandy in Kandy.
Dharmapala has produced national level Athletes, Cricketers, Soccerists and Ruggerites.
The next mission of the Old Dharmapalians Sports Club, Past Pupils Association and the School management is to build the other facilities such as pavilions, media centers, score board on par with the international standards.
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