N.U. Abdul Razzak Udayar
COLOMBO ; Fifty-three footballers of the three soccer squads, under 12, 14 and 16 of Wesswood International College, Katugastoa, Kandy had the golden opportunity of attending a camp of two-day training programme of soccer under the watchful eyes of the visiting Football coach of the United Kingdom, Robert Meldrum.
Forty-seven-year-old veteran Soccer Coach and Mentor Robert, who is armed with the FA Level 11 Coaching License has been in Sri Lanka since 7th October under the invitation of Sri Lanka School Football Federation.
The Chairman of the Sri Lanka School Football Association, the Principal of Dambulla Central College Bandara and its Secretary Mr. P.G. Pubudu Saman readily and immensely helped Wesswood get this Godsend service for its senior and budding footballers to get the training and much need exposure under the guidance this dedicated foreign coach who is under an assignment to give training to a number of soccer squads that come under Sri Lankan Schools.
This two-day camp of complete training of football from basic skills to goal shooting was conducted at two venues viz Mavilmada Public Grounds and F 10 Indoor Stadium in Kandy from 28th October to 29th October 2024. The Physical Education Instructor, 2nd Lieutenant Sri Lankan Army cum Deputy Prefect of Games and the Tamil Language Teacher of Wesswood Mr. Vinodan was instrumental for successfully holding this effective soccer camp for he used his good offices to get this UK Coach who renders his services for Junior and Senior Club Football in London, freely assigned to Wesswood for two days through the SLSFA.
The renowned touring Football Coach Mr. Robert Meldrum who expressed his views about the performance of the Wesswoodian footballers, initially expressed his thanks to SLSFA for assigning him for Wesswood to give his training. “Your players have the aptitude and invariably show a keen enthusiasm and apply the right skills and I am sure they will make a great impact in the local tournaments. They are committed and eager to learn the new skills” Mr. Robert thus smilingly shared out his real feeling with the Colombo times. net.
“What weak point have you observed in our players?”, When this question was posed, he remarked, “Commonly, all players need to meticulously look after the ball, to be precise, they should ensure the Possession to win the matches.”
The Principal of the school, Mr. Chandrasiri expressed the sincere thanks of the coach Robert Meldrum for his commitment and hard work to give his expertise to the players of Wesswood. He also expressed the indebtedness to the Sri Lankan School Football Association, especially, its Secretary Mr. P.G. Pubudu Saman for the great support given to Wesswood thus for building strong squads of footballers of juniors and seniors. The Football coach of Wesswood Mr. Noushad also played a great role to make this event a complete success. The Vice Principal and the Prefect of Games Mr. Shiyam told the Colombo Times that this exposure would definitely help Wesswood archive new heights in soccer. All the footballers of Wesswood who attended this camp were awarded with the certificates. The highlight of the event was the presentation of the memento to the coach Robert Meldrum.
