Former Sri Lanka Olympic hurdler Thilaka Jinadasa (left) the Team Leader of sports development at Gateway College group presents a memento to its assistant head of sports Pradeep Nishantha at a felicitation ceremony to honour him as trainer of Sri Lanka’s gold medallist at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics Dinesh Herath
With a cut-above-the-rest set-up that puts them ahead of many sporting institutions in the country, the Gateway College group felicitated Pradeep Nishantha, the assistant head of sports of Gateway College Colombo for his remarkable contribution to the country in producing two medal winners at the recently held Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan where Dinesh Priyantha Herath won a gold medal.
Nishantha was the trainer of Herath who also established a new world record in the javelin event in Tokyo.
He was attached to Gateway since 2005 as a part time coach before becoming its full time coach in 2015 and shaped up the careers of many athletes from the school some of whom represented the country.
Among Gateway’s team of coaches are a number of top Sri Lankan coaches in Tharindu Fernando, who was recently appointed the national basketball coach for the Under-23 team while the other coaches who have provided their services at national level are YK Kularatne (athletics), Dhanushka Fernando (badminton), Ruwan Satharasinghe (karate), Sharen Kannangara (rowing), CH Thalagala (squash), Chandana Perera (table tennis), Ganendran Subramaniam (tennis) and Anurudhdha Wijesinghe (basketball).
They are also granted with duty leave for national commitments while Gateway has some of the best state of the art sports facilities in keeping with the latest developments which are also provided to national squads free of charge according to the school.
They include the only 50 metre swimming pool among International Schools in Sri Lanka at Gateway College in Negombo, a football pitch and pavilion built at Gateway Ratmalana, the badminton and squash courts of Gateway Colombo and a modern basketball and netball court in Rajagiriya, Nawala, Kandy and Dehiwela.
A nine acre sports complex is currently being developed in Seeduwa that will include a large ground with five cricket pitches and ample space for football, rugby and athletics with a 400 metre track according to the school.
The sports complex that was recently opened in Kandy offers facilities for athletics, tennis, cricket, football and netball while a 50 metre swimming pool is also being constructed in Kandy.
Former Olympian Thilaka Jinadasa who was the first female to represent Sri Lanka at an Olympics when she performed at the Seoul Games in 1988, is Gateway’s Team Leader in charge of sports development for the entire group.
She is also a former Sri Lanka netball player and under her coaching guidance the national team won the Asian title in 2009 and 2018. Jinadasa also coached the Maldives and Brunei.