- A chat down memory lane, tales from a glorious past
On the day of our visit to meet a legend, Saturday (7), he was only 48 hours away from turning 100 years old. At the turn of his 100th birthday he has managed to set a unique 'Sri Lankan record' in sports as the oldest living national player in any sport in the island. He is Piyaratne Weerasinghe. His sport is volleyball.
In 1954, he represented the national team in the International Test volleyball series against the touring Indian team.
What makes Weerasinghe's 'centennial life report' even more impressive is that he still retains enough memory to recount events from that past today.
I now have the opportunity to turn the pages of this biographical memoir, a great chronicle of sports in the island nation.
We had people still awake at 1 in the morning to greet us
Sitting next to the seat occupied by Weerasinghe, a volleyball hero from about 70 years ago, was his son Thushara, and on the other side was Susil Ranasinghe, the former Secretary of the Sri Lanka Volleyball Federation – the inexhaustible repository of information on volleyball from the past to the present day. It was a great help to me in turning over the pages of the 'Weerasinghe history book .'
"During those days, there was a craze called 'volleyball madness'"
That's what I first heard as I started turning the pages of the 'Talking History Book' by Piyaratne.
"I first saw volleyball on a trip to Labugama"
Our protagonist, who was born on 10 December 1924, in the village of Wataddara, Mirigama, received his primary education at the Banduragoda Government English School.
Following are excerpts from the interview:
Tell us about that trip to Labugama and how you fell in love with the sport?
In 1936, we were taken from school to see the Labugama Reservoir. At the same time, arrangements were made to play a volleyball match with a school in Hanwella. There was a player named Perera in the Hanwella team. He would go up in the air and do the dash.
It was the brilliant ploys of a tall ball striker named Perera that brought excitement and inspiration to Weerasinghe’s volleyball career.
Thus, Piyarathna Weerasinghe, who was deeply involved in the 'volleyball craze', together with his younger brother, Gunathilake Weerasinghe, who later captained the national team, formed the Mirigama Central Sports Club. W. Karunathilaka, S. Subasinghe, G. Wimaladasa, W. Karunaratne and R. Jayathilake were the other players in that team.
How was your team and who are the players who were part of the outfit?
I was the passer of our team and our younger brother (G. Weerasinghe) and Wimalasena were the dashers. My younger brother is a left-handed dasher. He fires the ball very hard. Wimalasena is a tall lanky lad. That is why the dash he hits hits the top of the ball very hard. My younger brother coordinated the team. I worked as a PHI in the Department of Health. I also worked in Kurunegala. My brother too was employed at the Department of Health in Colombo. We trained together in Banduragoda on weekends. We didn't have any coaches. We were pretty dedicated and determined. Back then a volleyball was Rs. 17.50. During the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, volleyball was everywhere. In those days, we would go to all sorts of places for matches. A good man called ‘Jayantha Ralahami’, as well as a bus owner, would help us with our travels. When in Colombo we came back home after having a feast from the ever-famous Buhari Hotel.
Weerasinghe’s words about the volleyball culture at that time had a happy and nostalgic tone.
Who were your toughest opponents?
It was very difficult when we played against Reggie Ranatunga’s team (Gampaha Central). It was a very tough fixture for us. Whatever it was, we were all good friends with all the teams we played against during our days. None of us ever fought on or off the field. I also remember once a team from Trincomalee came with a lad named Wijesekera, there was also Charles from Gampaha. He used to catch passes for a dasher named Siriwardena in the beginning. Later, he started playing the dash. Charles played very hard together with Siriwardena and his brother Piyaratne. They were all quality players.
We were runners-up in the national championship several times. But that changed in 1954.
What happened in 1954?
It is our golden year. We reached the final on 7 February 1954 pitted against the ‘Hanwella Bosco’ team that reached the final with us at the Maradana Police Stadium. The Bosco supporters came from Avissawella by the then famous ‘small train’ (‘punchi kochchiya’). Our supporters (Mirigama Central) came from the Ambepussa steam train. The Bosco team was led by William (H.P. William), who had won the All-Ceylon Schools Championship for St. John Bosco’s College, Hanwella. Everyone thought that Bosco would win the championship that time too because they also had strong players in the likes of Karunaratne (G.K. Karunaratne), Antony (Antony Rupasinghe), Ubenis (R.P. Ubenis) and Premaratne (L.A.D. Premaratne).
But, defying all those predictions, the Meerigama Central team led by Piyaratne Weerasinghe became the national champions, delighting thousands of spectators who had travelled from Meerigama.
We heard there’s an interesting story that happened after the win, could you recall what happened?
The chief guest at the National Championship final was Lord Soulbury, the then Governor-General of Ceylon. However, he had to stay for a considerable time after the match to present the winning trophy, as the victorious Mirigama players were not present at the stadium premises. The supporters who came from Mirigama carried us on their shoulders to the Gamini Hall roundabout in Maradana, so the Governor-General had to wait for our return.
The series of events leading up to the victory did not end there. It was around 1 am when the team including Piyaratne Weerasinghe, carrying the 'Dinamina Trophy' awarded to the winners, arrived in their hometown of Banduragoda.
How was the reception at your hometown way past midnight?
Our entire village was awake at night waiting for us. The next day, the headlines in the newspapers read, "The elder brother's dashing strike against the ball lifted by the younger brother brings victory to Mirigama."
Later both the brothers' passion for volleyball went from national to international level. In 1954, the two brothers had the opportunity to represent Sri Lanka against the Indian national volleyball team that came to the country for a test match tour. In another historic feat, that Lankan team was the first official National Volleyball Team of the country.
Tell us a little about your brother where you had the rare privilege of playing for the country together?
After his successes in 1954 and beyond, later, my younger brother went to Madras in India. He was a recipient of many accolades from the Governor-General Lord Soulbury.
Piyaratne Weerasinghe, is an experienced player who has experienced several eras of technical developments in the game of volleyball.
How did your career pan up later on and how was the development of the game?
I played until I went to England in 1967 on a one-year scholarship I received from my job. In those early days, there was no dash in volleyball. We used to just hit the volleyball here and there without any technical aspect. It was later that I started to hit the dash. In fact, the players I remember most from those days were the ones who hit the dash. When we played, there was no ten point (volley pass). We saw the ten-pointer for the first time from the Indian team. It's not easy to catch passes the way we do.
What sort of prizes were given at matches/tournaments during that time?
There were no such things as gifts/prizes at that time. There were no monetary gifts. We played by spending our own money. There were no extra players in the team. There were only six of us. My brother had a car. We all came to some matches in his car. When the group arrived, they came with a mysterious bottle and later after some fun chit chat we all went back to our respective parts areas where we were employed.
A lifelong teetotaller Piyaratne Weerasinghe contributed to all the post-match socials with his amazing singing skills. With such a presence and the physical strength gained from playing for nearly three decades, one might guess that Weerasinghe is blessed with the ability to live to be going strong at a hundred years old to gain the strength to remember a century of tales.
He was still physically able to do his own things. Even at the age of 95-96, he drove his car alone and went to the village temple with his wife to observe ‘sil’. According to the worldly dharma of old age, which no one can surpass, his eyesight has deteriorated over time. However Piyaratne Weerasinghe still carries a great volleyball past. He is the only such encyclopedia of the game left in the country.
Translated by Muaard Razick