HSBC and Sri Lanka Golf launch HSBC Future Lions Grassroots program

From right: HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives CEO Mark Surgenor, Junior Golf Development Subcommittee Chairperson Niloo Jayatilake, Sri Lanka Golf President Michael Perera Magala and MAS Kreeda General Manager-Business Development Dishan Fernando – Pic by Shehan Gunasekara  

HSBC together with Sri Lanka Golf has announced the launch of the second edition of HSBC Future 

Lions Golf grassroots program from 24 February to 9 April. 

The program is designed to introduce the game of Golf to children aged 9-12 years in the country and provide them with the opportunity to develop their skills and pursue their passion for the sport. The first leg of the program was initiated in July 2017, with over 700 young people participating and several of them going on to compete in local and international tournaments. 

The second leg of the program will build on that success by expanding the reach of the program and offering even more opportunities for young people to get involved, with the involvement of six leading Golf clubs namely at Shangri-La Golf Resort Hambantota, Nuwara Eliya Golf Club, Victoria Golf Resort Kandy, Eagles Heritage Golf Club – Anuradhapura, Eagles Links Golf Club – Trincomalee and Royal Colombo Golf Club – Colombo.  The program will include coaching clinics with hands-on instruction from experienced golf professionals for young golfers of all skill levels. The HSBC Future Lions Golf grassroots program is open to youngsters aged 9- 12 years across the locations.  This year, a special feature will be the introduction of “Girls on Par” program which is an initiative to increase the participation and representation of young girls in the sport. 

HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives CEO Mark Surgenor said: “As the leading international Bank in Sri  Lanka, we look forward in supporting the children in the country to take on Golf as a new sport. HSBC Group is a strong supporter of Golf globally and through its outreach programs have introduced Golf to millions of children globally and we want to extend the same experience in Sri Lanka. 

“The HSBC Future Lions Golf grassroots program is committed to grow the game in Sri Lanka and more importantly to provide the younger generation with an opportunity to develop their skills and pursue their passion for the sport.”

“We are confident that the second edition of the program will be even more successful than our previous edition back in 2017/18. We hope children across the country will make use of this opportunity and participate across the six locations planned. I look forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on inclusivity in the sport in years to come,” he added.

In the inaugural program launched in July 2017 and 2018, over 700 children were introduced to Golf across seven locations. 250 of them underwent further advanced training and development at the respective academies and what’s significant is that the program introduced 25 new junior Golfers who played at a national level thanks to this national effort. 

What’s significant is that two junior stars produced by this program were Master Adithya Weerasinghe and Thenuk Sathsindu from the Anuradhapura Academy. Both players are single handicappers and are now playing competitive Golf and recently were selected to the Sri Lanka Golf (SLG) national junior squad. 

Sri Lanka Golf President Michael Perera Magala said: “As the national body for Golf, Sri Lanka Golf is delighted to launch the second edition of HSBC Future Lions grass root program once again. The program made a huge impact on junior Golf helping to popularise the sport across the country and more importantly support the new talent to emerge through the program as two of the participants made into the junior national squad which is testament of the impact the program has made. 

“We would like to place on record our appreciation for the great support from HSBC our title partner, the Junior Golf Development Committee led by Chairperson Niloo Jayatilake and her team and all the partners and participating clubs towards this national endeavour.”

The respective schools especially around the outstation Golf clubs will be notified on dates of the  program by Sri Lanka Golf in the next few days. 

HSBC and Sri Lanka Golf invites girls and boys between the ages of 9- 12 years to attend the Grassroot program for a fun day and try Golf and learn more on  this exciting sport from coaches and instructors who are attached to the respective locations. 

Junior Golf Development Subcommittee Chairperson Niloo Jayatilake said: “In its first edition, The HSBC Future Lions Golf grassroots program was instrumental in introducing Golf to over 700 children across seven centres in the country from 2017- 2018. Since then, we have had an addition of over 25 new junior players who took part at national level Golf events. But the pandemic in 2020 onwards had an impact on sustaining the effort and being the first we have had many learnings which will be addressed in the second edition. 

“We look forward to once again extending the HSBC Future Lions grassroots program to boys and girls across six locations and through it help them become champions Golfers. I would like to thank the entire team that was involved in getting the program together and look forward to the support from HSBC, our partners and participating clubs and parents to move forward with the program.”

HSBC has been a global supporter of Golf and continues to play an important role in Sri Lanka, as the leading international Bank that has operated for over 130 years, since opening its doors in 1892. The bank sponsors The Open in UK, HSBC Women’s World Golf Championship in Singapore, HSBC Golf  Championship in Abu-Dhabi and WGC Golf Championship in Shanghai, China. 

The bank has also supported millions of children around the globe to take up the sport through local grassroots programs in UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Abu-Dhabi. Sri Lankans will no doubt benefit through the HSBC Future Lions program and thereby join the bank’s global effort to promote the sport.  The HSBC Future Lions grassroots program is further supported by the following partners, Olu – Beverage partner, Alerics – Ice Cream Partner and MAS Kreeda - Sportswear partner in 2023.