Colonel Henry Steele Olcott Memorial Sports Foundation quiz competition
Tuesday, 8 July 2014 00:27
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n For Dhammika Kalapuge Challenge Trophy
Col. Henry Steele Olcott Memorial Sports Foundation will hold a quiz between the current students of all eight Olcott Schools – Nalanda, Ananda, Dharmaraja, Dharmapala, Dharmasoka, Rahula, Mahinda and Maliyadeva for the Dhammika Kalapuge Challenge Trophy. It will be held on Saturday 12 July 2014 at The Buddhist Cultural Centre, Sri Sambuddha Jayanthi Mandira at Thummulla Junction, Colombo 5 commencing at 13:00 hours.
The Colonel Henry Steel Olcott Sports Foundation was founded in 1996 by some enthusiastic old boys of the Olcott schools Ananda, Nalanda, Dharmaraja, Dharmapala, Dharmasoka, Rahula, Mahinda and Maliyadeva. The objective in forming the Foundation was to foster increased interaction between the Olcott school old boys, and the present students themselves, and to perpetuate the memory of the great Buddhist revivalist Col. Henry Steele Olcott.
Since its inception the foundation has successfully organised an annual cricket tournament between the past cricketers of the above eight Olcott schools, usually over two days, with the present cricketers of the schools engaging in a mini-tournament on the second day of the tournament. The tournament is held hosted by the Olcott schools in rotation in the hosting school’s home city. This year the tournament is being organised by the Maliyadeva College and will be held in Kurunegala during September.
Dhammika Kalapuge is a distinguished Nalandian, well known for his services to the public and private sectors, and in the region, especially in customer service training. He is a trainer who has been recognised regionally for seeking to incorporate challenges and opportunities of the modern world in nurturing the extreme best in youth when they grow from crayons to perfume.
Kalapuge has offered sponsorship for the Quiz Competition which will cover the Rs. 100,000 for the winning school, Rs. 50,000.00 for the runner-up, the trophies and other costs. The foundation believes that the quiz will enhance the ‘Olcott Spirit’ amongst the eight schools.
The Quiz Master of the competition will be ex- banker, Parama Dharmawardena, an Old Thomian, and Kumar Weerasuriya, former Anandian, ex Banker and Charter member of the foundation, whose brainchild the quiz is, will be assisted by Wasantha Sooriyaarachchi and Yasas Ariyaratne of the Ananda ‘93 Group, in organising the Quiz. This initial year’s quiz is being organised by the Foundation itself with assistance from the Ananda College 1993 Old Boys Group.
For this inaugural 2014 Quiz each Olcott school is allowed to enter a maximum of 2 five-member teams and all eight schools have entered two teams each. The Quiz will be conducted in English and will have five rounds of questions from general knowledge, current affairs, sports, entertainment and a special round of questions on Colonel Olcott, the Buddhist Theosophical Society and world heritage sites.
The main objectives of the quiz competition is to encourage students to achieve academic excellence , increase their awareness of the world around them, test students’ accumulation and application of knowledge in a real life situation, encourage independent study and team work, build self- esteem/confidence, empower students with a new understanding of what has been, what is now and what can be, and encourage and primarily build better interaction, understanding and friendship amongst the schools participating.
As there are over 400 BTS (Buddhist Theosophical Society) schools in Sri Lanka, the foundation’s aim is to gradually expand the participation to all BTS schools in future years. It is in the road map that this will be an annual Quiz Competition organised by the Col. Henry Steele Olcott Memorial Sports Foundation and hosted by old boys associations of Olcott schools in rotation as how the presently established Annual Cricket Tournament is being conducted.
