All sports fans know very well that Isipathana College is a leading rugby playing school in the country for many years now. Almost every time they take the field in rugby they are known to dominate the game over other schools and at times have overtaken other leading rugby playing schools like Trinity, Royal and S. Thomas’ to name a few.
Do sports fans know that Isipathana were kings in soccer in 2002? Sadly, the football fraternity in the controlling body continued to ignore the achievement by Isipathana. As of today, the OBA of the school has taken some interest to pursue with soccer and maintain that high level they achieved in 2002.
New president of Football Sri Lanka (FSL) Jaswer Umar said that he knew about Isipathana becoming champions and presented them with football equipment like boots and balls so that they can continue playing at a top level.
He also said that FSL will start a new structure for junior football and conduct a Junior League in the under-15 and 19 categories. This will kick start soon and Jaswer added that the structure will change and new tournaments will be conducted soon at all levels.
It all began in 1998 when an old boy, Ranga Sarath, who was a master in the school attracted the attention of junior boys to attend soccer practices. He utilized his own skills in coaching and took time to teach the intricate skills of this sport. These coaching skills were meant to uplift the player to such a height that they would be able to fit into other outdoor sports as well.
The OBA got their act together and came forward the next year to work with Sarath to help with the junior soccer players. They elected two reputed sportsmen in MD Ifthikar (a famous rugby player) and MH Yakeem (a craftsman in hockey) to guide the soccer players.
The principal of Isipathana was Upali Gunasekera who extended his fullest support to the coaching program in soccer. The program did not look back from that point and they continued to achieve greater heights in football.
In 2000, soccer gained popularity among the youngsters who turned out in numbers for practices, which enabled the school to form teams in all age groups.
The Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) inaugurated an all Island under-12 tournament for the first time. This saw around 540 schools participate at the Race Course ground. This Isipathana team emerged runners-up in this tournament that certainly attracted attention. They were coached by Udayasiri and MH Yakeem.
The under-19 team entered the All Island Brazil Cup final and emerged runners-up. The under-14, 16 and 18 teams emerged Champions in the Western Province - which was a unique feat - since no other school has achieved this honour before.
Two soccer players in Dinusha Chathuranga and Reezah Mubarak later switched to rugby. They became famous and even went on to represent Sri Lanka in rugby. M. Naushad became a hockey star and currently is a leading referee in Asia.
Sadly in 2003, the two coaches Ifthikar and Yakeem had to step down as a member of the OBA who can serve in the committee for only three years as a ruling. Their successors could not carry on the good work and the sport declined thereafter.