The most looked forward to volleyball event the 20th DSI Schools Volleyball Championship for the ‘DSI Trophy’ was launched at the Nippon Hotel on Thursday in the presence of officials from the sponsor D. Samson & Sons.
The championship commenced in 1999 and the competition gained popularity and up to last year it reached a record number exceeding 5000 teams in action.
The Federation has taken steps to introduce a new system for the under-11 category by allowing all twelve players to play during the match. This decision was arrived at with the intention of keeping the young players and their parents involved in the game.
“In the past, parents who were keen to see their children play took them off the game as most of the players were kept as substitutes. Children of disappointed parents did not get a chance to show off their skills and also failed to gain the maximum from the hard work done to represent the school,” said the Secretary of the SLBVF AS Nalaka.
“If this trend continues young spikers are sure to give up the game leaving a big void left for the country and the future of the sport”.
Nalaka also said for the first time the Sri Lanka under-19 spikers have been invited to play in the under-19 Schools Volleyball Championship to be held in Bahrain in June this year. As part of preparations already the Federation along with the Schools Volleyball Association has set up a pool to undergo training.
Meanwhile the Asian Schools Volleyball Federation has made a request to the SLVBF to hold the Championship in Sri Lanka in July.
All these are the results achieved by the ‘DSI Super Sports Volleyball Championship’ which also has set a world record by having the highest number of teams competing in this Championship. The first stage is the district level to be held from February 28 to March 31 and the national level will be from April 27 to May 7.
“Volleyball being the national sport of Sri Lanka our company embarked in supporting the sport first in 1999. We are proud to say that our efforts have produced good results during the past nineteen years for the game in the country at large,” said the Managing Director of D. Samson & Sons Thusitha Rajapakse.
“The players who have participated in this championship were able to gain selection to the national team and bring honour to the country by winning medals at international competitions”.