Pradeep Nishantha, Assistant Head of Sports of Gateway College Colombo was felicitated by the school for his remarkable contribution in producing two medal winners at the recently concluded Paralympic Games in Japan.

The national anthem was played for the very first time at an Olympics when Dinesh Priyantha Herath who was trained by Pradeep Nishantha won a gold medal with a new world record. Pradeep has been employed at Gateway since 2005 and he has been responsible for producing many national athletes from Gateway.

As an organization that is committed to the development of sports, Gateway’s Directorate believes that the ultimate beneficiaries of all investments they make should be the athletes and the country. All Gateway’s coaches who are responsible for national squads are provided with duty leave to represent the country at international events. Many of the school’s facilities which have been built to international standards are offered free of charge, if ever the national squads require them for practices.

Gateway students are blessed to be coached and guided by professionals of the highest caliber. Thilaka Jinadasa, the Team Leader – Sports development for the entire group represented Sri Lanka in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and is also a double International athlete who represented the nation in both athletics and netball. Under her guidance, as a national netball coach, Sri Lanka won the Asian Netball Championship twice in 2009 and 2018. She also served as National Netball Coach for the national teams of Maldives and Brunei.

Gateway’s top coaches Tharindu Fernando, Thilanka Jinadasa and Pradeep Nishantha are pictured here.

Among Gateway’s team of coaches are a number of top Sri Lankan coaches. Tharindu Fernando, who was recently appointed National Basketball Coach for the Under 23 Sri Lankan side is among them. Other coaches who have provided their services at national level are Y K Kularatne (Athletics), Dhanushka Fernando (Badminton), Ruwan Satharasinghe (Karate), Sharen Kannangara (Rowing), C H Thalagala (Squash), Chandana Perera (Table Tennis), Ganendran Subramaniam (Tennis) and Anurudhdha Wijesinghe (Basketball).

Gateway’s investment and commitment to sports over the years has been exemplary. The school offers state-of-the-art facilities that are of international standard. They include the only 50 metre swimming pool among International Schools in Sri Lanka, which is situated in the Negombo school; the football pitch and the beautiful pavilion built in the Ratmalana school, the badminton and squash courts of the Colombo school and the modern basketball and netball courts in Rajagiriya, Nawala, Kandy and Dehiwala. There are newly built tennis courts in Rajagiriya, Kandy and Nawala. 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). The sports complex that was recently opened in Kandy offers facilities for athletics, tennis, cricket, football and netball. A 50 metre swimming pool is also being constructed in Kandy.