AIMING FOR OLYMPIC HEIGHTS

Royal College's foray into archery

- By ALLAAM OUSMAN

Royal College, Colombo, one of Sri Lanka's most prominent sporting institutions, has added a new feather to its cap with the introduction of archery a sport with Olympic pedigree and untapped potential in the country. Though archery was introduced at Royal only last year, the fledgling team has already made its mark, producing the school’s first-ever medal within months of its debut.

Explaining the background, Manju Ariyarathna, former Chairman of the Archery Management Committee of the Royal College Union (RCU), noted how the initiative took shape.

"The Royal College Union appoints management and advisory committees for respective sports, and that’s how we support schoolchildren to develop their skills and performance. For archery, we only introduced the sport last year. Coach Ally, being a Royalist, volunteered to coach free of charge and was generous enough to provide his own facilities, equipment, and coaching assistance to College for about a year. That gave us the opportunity to develop interest among the kids, get them into competitions, and see how the sport takes off."

Though Royal is a late entrant compared to schools like Ananda, S. Thomas’, and Maliyadeva, the progress has been rapid. Currently, 18 archers train regularly, with entry starting from Grade 5 at ages 10-11.