Samaposha powers school football for 10th consecutive year

Plenty Foods Director, CEO Shammi Karunaratne (third from left) along with Plenty Foods General Manager Marketing Jayanga Perera handing over the Under-14 Football Sponsorship to Sri Lanka Schools Football Association President Hemantha Abeykoon (second from left) and Football Federation of Sri Lanka General Secretary Jaswar Umar 

Samaposha, the flagship brand of Plenty Foods Ltd., a fully owned subsidiary of Ceylon Biscuits Ltd. (CBL Group), has finalised all arrangements to conduct the Under-14 Inter-School Football Tournament for the 10th consecutive year.

Organised in collaboration with the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) and the Sri Lanka Schools’ Football Association (SSFA), the ‘Samaposha Under-14 Inter-School Football Championship 2018’ kicked off on 8 December.

Showcasing the overwhelming response received from schools islandwide, 500 Boys teams and 150 Girls teams totalling over 12,000 students will participate in this year’s tournament. 

32 centres countrywide will host the tournament encompassing all districts in the country. The final round is scheduled to be held in Colombo in January 2019 with 33 Boys teams and 25 Girls teams participating as district champions. 

The Best Player (Boys), Best Player (Girls) and also the Best Goalkeeper of the tournament will be presented special awards on the final day of the tournament. 

Commenting on the Tournament, FFSL President Anura de Silva said, “The Under-14 Inter-School Championship for football is recognised among students as decidedly the most competitive but friendly tournaments held. A great deal of effort and camaraderie is seen during this tournament and provides us an opportunity to identify talented players. This Tournament is also an ideal platform to increase the keenness and enthusiasm among students for this sport. Towards these efforts we are extremely grateful to Samaposha in coming forward and continuously sponsoring this annual tournament.”

“Samaposha has also been contributing and working towards the development of schools football for over nine years. It is a privilege and honour to witness boys and girls who have participated in this Schools Tournament and who are now recognised National Football players,” de Silva added. 

Expressing the company’s commitment in uplifting school football, Plenty Foods Ltd. Director/CEO Shammi Karunaratne said, “Energy and nutrition are not the only key requirement that matters in sport, but other key aspects such as skills, having the necessary endurance, self-belief and discipline are also important as sports contribute towards enhancing personality development and help to lay a strong foundation for well-balanced future leaders.”

He further stated, “To achieve these factors it is paramount for a child to have the right balanced nutrition in their daily diet. In particular, Samaposha has been strongly advocating the importance of a balanced nutritious breakfast for a healthy and nourished future generation. The brand Samaposha is manufactured to international standards using nutritious local grains, which serves the nutritional requirement for energetic sports such as football. We are in the forefront of supporting this tournament with the objective of generating world class players for our nation.” 

During last year’s tournament Pandateruppu Girls High School, Jaffna emerged as Champion in the Girls’ final and St. Joseph’s College, Maradana clinched the Boys’ Championship.