Udani Edirisinghe becomes first female Rugby Manager

Friday, 30 October 2020 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shamseer Jaleel

Udani Edirisinghe

Former Musaeus College, rugby fan, excellent reader of the game and rugby enthusiast Udani Edirisinghe has become not only the first female Team Manager at CH & FC but the first in the male-dominated sport in Sri Lanka.

Rugby is one of the fastest growing sports in Asia; Women’s rugby opens the outdoors to any gender without any differences, setting an example to other sports.

Udani told Daily FT: “Back in 2016, I was introduced to the CH & FC club by its former Secretary, Major Tanesh Diasz as a result of a mutual friendship. Since then, I have followed all the matches of CH & FC very closely where I was introduced to current Head Coach of the unit Rohitha Rajapaksa.

“Under the guidance of Major Diasz, I was gradually involved in administration tasks of the CH & FC club. Due to my commitment, loyalty to the club, and interest in the game, I was given more responsibility as the Rugby Manager this year, independent of that it is a male-dominant sport. “

During my tenure as the Assistant Manager of CH & FC, we were crowned as the overall champions in the Inter-Club Rugby Sevens held in 2018. Later that year, CH & FC won the Western Province rugby sevens as well. Previously I have held the position of Team Manager of the Colvetel team who became the bowl runners up at the 2017 Mercantile Rugby Sevens.”