Season three of Coca-Cola Cricket Pathway Jaffna Camp launched

In an endeavour to identify and reach out to the aspiring cricketers at the grass root level, Coca-Cola Sri Lanka, in partnership with the Aravinda de Silva Cricket Foundation and Sri Lanka Cricket, launched Season-three of the Coca-Cola Cricket Pathway camps in Jaffna today.

The aim of the camps is to discover cricketing talent from amongst the youth in Sri Lanka’s rural and regional areas and groom them to play in the Sri Lankan national team. As part of the initiative the second camp of the Coca-Cola Cricket Pathway began today at the St. Patrick’s Collage Grounds in Jaffna. The first camp was launched in Colombo recently.

The three day camp will host 72 youth cricketers from the North, North Central and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka and the students will be coached by legendary cricketer Aravinda de Silva and by provincial and district coaches.

The participants of the cricket camp will be trained in both the practical and technical aspects of playing the game and will undergo rigorous training sessions in the space of three days.

In addition to being a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn the basics of cricket from some of the most distinguished cricketers in Sri Lanka, the Coca-Cola Cricket Pathway initiative is a forum for players from the four corners of the island to unite  for the spirit of the game and improve their experience and ability to play the game.

Talking about the initiative Coca-Cola Far East Limited Marketing Operations Manager Shantha Fernando said, “This year Coca-Cola is keen to take the Pathway camps to the next level by holding tournaments in Jaffna and other centres. This initiative is part of Coca-Cola’s efforts to encourage and promote cricketing talent amongst Sri Lankan youth across the country. Coca-Cola believes in promoting a healthy active lifestyle and this initiative is a commitment in that direction. The Coca-Cola Cricket Pathway Camps are designed to hone their cricketing skills and help develop participants as the future cricketers of Sri Lanka.”

The participants of the CCCP with members of the head table

Commenting on this on-going initiative Coca-Cola Beverages Sri Lanka Country HR Manager Nilanthi Jayatillake said, “Coca-Cola believes in promoting a healthy and active lifestyle through sports. Cricket is a national passion and this is a great opportunity to promote active healthy living. It also encourages teamwork and develops people to excel and achieve desired results.  We believe that sport is an ideal platform to educate the youth on the development of winning strategies, while working with people in an effective manner.”

The pathway has also seen a number of participants moving forward to join the Sri Lanka National Under 19 Team. 10 participants from the Season one of the Coca-Cola Cricket Pathway joined the Sri Lanka National Under 19 team and Season two contributed 13 players to the Sri Lanka National Under 19 pool.