This annual sports encounter deems to be the most awaited annual sports encounter for Rotaractors island wide. On three eventful and exhilarating days, the Rotaract clubs gather together to celebrate sportsmanship and showcase a great deal of vigor, strength, competitiveness and most importantly friendship begins to thrive both within the club and with other club members as well. The Rotaract Champions League- 2019 was successfully held on the 2^nd, 9^th and 10^th of February and our skills were tested on varied track and field events. It was indeed remarkable to see this many young sportsman and sportswomen display an array of talents in each of these sporting events.

The sporting events encompassed of Futsal, Cricket, Tag Rugby, Badminton, Basketball, Chess, Athletics, Table Tennis, Tug ‘o’ war, carrom and athletic events.

Day 01

On the day it all started we were able to see the determination and sheer curiosity which was painted all the faces of those who were present. After the opening ceremony we were taken to our respective sporting arenas to kick-off each game. The games which were held on the 2^nd of February were Badminton, Carrom, Futsal, Table Tennis and Chess. We are proud to mention that the athletes from the Rotaract Club of SLIIT was able to obtain the overall championship for Badminton and Carrom while the girl’s futsal team was able to capture the second place and the boy’s team achieved the 4^th place at the respective tournaments. The overall championship for Chess was won by the Rotaract club of Achievers Lanka Business School and the Rotaract club of Sir John Kothlawala Defense University bagged the overall championship for Table Tennis and women’s Futsal.

All in all, the Rotaract club of SLIIT was able to lock the first place alongside Rotaract club of KDU on the first day itself with a total score of points 315.

Day 02

The 9^th of February was equally nerve wrecking as it was just one more day left to secure top scores in order to bag a place. Cricket, Basketball and Tag Rugby was scheduled to be held on that particular day. The Rotaract club of SLIIT was able to obtain the bronze medal for both Men’s Cricket and Basketball after a great deal of competition.

Who says girls can’t play rugby? Well, I must say that the most unbelievable part of the day was when the Rotaract Club of SLIIT bagged the championship title for Women’s Tag Rugby after a strenuous fight with RACUOCFMF; the game started off with Rotaract club of SLIIT leading and soon after RACUOCFMF was able to catch up and yes, we were even given a great ordeal of extra time, but with the determination which was clearly seen in both the teams it was a tie. However, Rotaract club of SLIIT was able to win the tiebreaker and thereafter won the championship.

Rotaract club of KDU obtained the Men’s Tag Rugby and Women’s Basketball championships respectively and the Rotaract club of Achievers won the Men’s Basketball championship, following Rotaract club of Colombo West won the 1^st place for Cricket and Women’s cricket was bagged by Rotaract club of Excellence.

Even through day 02 we were able to capture the top scorers’ positions for the day.

Day 03

If Day 02 was nerve-wrecking, then you can imagine how day 03 was- some of us keeping tabs on the medals obtained, others getting warmed up for their events and the organizers rushing to keep everything in order. On the 10^th of February, we had Athletics and Tug ‘o’ war and the day started off with the athletic events at play. During the tug ‘0’ war session, we saw multiple teams unified and huddled while thinking of varied game plans. Through the great deal of strength shown, the Rotaract club of Alumni of University of Moratuwa and Rotaract club of KDU won the Men’s and Women’s championships accordingly.

After was seemed like an eternity, the organizers commenced the awards ceremony- the moment where the results of all the sacrifices, endless practice sessions and team talk would be appreciated. The Rotaract Club of Excellence achieved a stunning record of 1483 points which made them the overall champions of RCL 2019, followed by the defending champions of 2018- the Rotaract club of KDU, who achieved second place with a score of 1284 points and Rotaract club of SLIIT secured the third place with a total of 678 points.

All it took was a mere number of seconds for the clubs to scream in joy and huddle-up with their club members to cheer their relevant clubs.

The effort and strength put forward by our teams must be appreciated since there were instances when winning may have seen quite impossible, but neither of the teams that were present gave up and each of them decided to give their 100%.

Picture courtesy- Impulse Inc.

Written by-

Rtr. Tharindhie Alles,

Co-editor 2018/19