Udani Edirisinghe becomes first female Rugby Manager

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.”