Following is the Message from JPAA Canada President Upali Obeyesekere in the 30th Anniversary Dance Souvenir.

A warm welcome to all – Josephians, Peterites, families and well wishers from Canada & USA who have graced this occasion. This evening marks the final segment in the ongoing celebrations of our 30^th anniversary of which we are modestly proud. While enjoying the unique position as the first ever alumni association in Canada amongst Sri Lanka Schools, we must thank god for keeping us together. We are celebrating 30 years since the rise of the Ad-Hoc Committee in 1984, that guided the Josephians & Peterites to what is known today as “Josephian-Peterite Alumni Association of Canada”.

The road was not always straight – we had a few a road blocks, bumps and bends along the way but we made it to our destination. When Christ said ‘Do not judge’ he meant not only do not judge others, but also do not judge yourself. When you fall, simply get up again. This is exactly what we did and today here we are celebrating 30 years with you.

Please click on 30th Anniversary image on right hand of the Main Page that leads you to the photographs taken at the dance.

JPAA Canada has been a rewarding journey for me, personally. Having first come up with the concept of starting the association, my Josephian counterpart Benito de Silva helped me assemble a cohesive group. Members of the Ad-Hoc Committee are collectively the founders of our great organization. All this happened in 1984 and here we are today – thirty years later basking in the glory of successfully keeping a joint association together for three decades.  Kudos to the eighteen Past Presidents of JPAA Canada – many of whom are still actively involved with the organization. What really makes us stand out is that we survived and made it this far. We kept the Blue & White – Blue, White & Gold flags flying high. The tag line of “Two true brothers of one family” was our guiding light.

Like you, the Josephians and Peterites have come a long way from our motherland. We miss our surroundings, family and friends back home. This void was filled in our adopted land by the emergence of one great association for both schools. Every summer, we have a Fellowship Nite. Then we battle it out for supremacy in the Canada series of the Josephian-Peterite Cricket encounter.  Then again we meet the Antonians and Bens in the “Saints Quadrangular” T20 cricket tournament. In the fall, we battle it out with other schools in Rugby and come October it is our annual dinner dance. JPAA Canada is doing its best for you.

Have a wonderful evening and may god bless you!

Upali Obeyesekere

President, JPAA Canada

Among the guests who graced the occasion were Sri Lanka's cricketing legends, Aravinda de Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga, Mahela Jayawardena, Marvan Attapatu, Michael Tissera, Anura Tennakoon etc.

The guest speaker of the night, Mahela Jayawardene added colour to the event by briefing the award recipients and sharing few unknown facts about his teammates. "Vaasy is probably the bowler in international cricket, who would bowl his first delivery in the right spot; I have never seen anyone so accurate on his first delivery. He took Sri Lankan fast bowling to a whole new level. We all call Thisara 'Panda' not because of the way he looks but because of the way he moves around things. He is always with a smile" he said.

"Thisara is a brilliant team player on and off the field and mostly, Thisara loves his food. Dimuth is a fantastic player but he has not yet given his best in the international matches though we have seen his class few times. He's a real hard worker".

"I have seen young Sadeera in few games and at our training. I hope the very best for him as well. Finally, Angelo Mathews is a fantastic guy to have in your dressing room. It was a tough role for him when he first played for Sri Lanka under my captaincy but he established himself straightaway.

The way he has improved in the last two years is phenomenal." During the event, Angelo Mathews officially also launched the official Josephian Sports FB page.

Angelo Mathews, Chaminda Vaas, Thisara Perera, Dimuth Karunarathne and Sadeera Samarawickrama with Rev. Fr. Travis Gabriel, Rector of SJC, Brian Obeyesekere, head of the Committee of Management of the Josephian Sports Council and others.

 

 

 

 

 

Courtesy: Daily News by Chinthana Wasala

Five of the modern cricketing protagonist from the most pioneer catholic school in Sri Lanka; St. Joseph’s College will be appreciated with awards of excellence on a starry and entertaining night on 15th October at Water’s Edge, Grand Ballroom starting from 7.30pm onwards.

In the recent past, St. Joseph’s College has been the leading institution to pump national cricketers and championship-winning outfits. Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera and Dimuth Karunaratne are the current crop of Josephians playing for Sri Lanka and they are fondly referred to as the ‘Josephian Mafia’ due to trail-blazing achievements of some of them.

Five Josephian are to be felicitated on Wednesday night in a glittering ceremony. Angelo Mathews, Chaminda Vaas, Thisara Perera, Dimuth Karunarathne and Sadeera Samarawickrama will be decorated in an event entitled the ‘Joes Night of the Stars’ which will be hosted by the SJC Sports Council together with the Cricket Committee with the sponsorship of Sri Lanka Insurance.

The current Sri Lanka Test & ODI Captain Angelo Mathews was the Josephian 1st XI skipper in the 2005/06 season and before that he represented College in 5 successful seasons. He led many Josephian teams from the age category of 13 and since then, he has been one of the best modern cricket captains and one of the brightest stars to have been produced by the blue and white College by the Beira lake in Colombo. Today, Sri Lanka looks at their young captain to take them into the future.

Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda Vaas has one of the longest names in world cricket and his name spoke no less to the elongated achievements he has accomplished as a cricketer. By far the best left-arm fast bowler ever to have played the sport of cricket in Sri Lanka has represented St. Joseph’s College in the early 1990’s. Vaas is regarded as the weapon that turned test cricket around, bringing Sri Lanka its first series win overseas 1-0 against New Zealand with the left-armer returning figures of 16 wickets in the two matches. A long servant of Sri Lanka Cricket Chaminda Vaas is heralded as the fast-bowling god-father of the island nation.

The belligerent Thisara Perera is a match winner and Sri Lanka often relies on him to salvage slow run rates. Perera is regarded as one of the most dangerous fast-bowling all-rounders currently in the world and he has paired up superbly with his senior pro, Mathews to validate the ‘Josephian Mafia’ nick name. The all-rounder played a pivotal role in helping his College break the hoodoo in the Battle of the Saints against St. Peter’s College that lasted more than 36 years. Perera was the chief destroyer of the Peterite batting during that memorable 2008 big match.

One of the latest editions to the Sri Lanka Test team, Dimuth Karunaratne was another key member of the top-class Josephian 1st XI teams in the period of 2005-2008 alongside Mathews and Thisara. Left-handed opening batsman joined St. Joseph’s College from a scholarship at the tender age of 14 and since his inclusion to the premier catholic school; he was the top run-maker in the school level.

Newest rising star of Josephian cricket, Sadeera Samarawickrama won the Bata-Times Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2014 for his tremendous achievement for Sri Lanka under 19s and for his alma-mater. He became the 2nd Josephian cricketer to have won this prestigious award after Rohan Weerakkody who won it in 1987. Talented wicket-keeper batsman has the potential and ability to make it into the Lankan team in the near future.

In view of all this, the proud Josephian fraternity come together in an evening of celebration and fellowship to pay homage to their most famous sons.

As a past Josephian cricketer, I have witnessed all these five players perform in my 20-years of life. As a kid, Chaminda Vaas was my bowling hero as he was a genuine wicket-taker with the new ball. I still remember how Dimuth Karunaratne and Thisara Perera smashed 130 runs for the 6th wicket in the 2006 big match. They were striking the ball with tremendous ease and both left-handers went on to score 131 and 92 respectively as SJC took major honours in that Battle of the Saints. Angelo’s gutsy unbeaten century in the 2005 big match showcased his fighting batting attributes which he has been showing for the last couple of years in national colours. Finally, Sadeera was my own team mate and he played a gem of an innings in the 2013 big match where he stylishly stroked a classic century.

Josephian cricket Vice-Captain in 1993/94, Vinod Sivapragasam, exclusively shared his views with www.thepapare.com on these stars and on the mega-awards night, “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra and I'm quite certain our guys from college just did that. We are proud of you Brothers! Let's salute our heroes who are keeping the 'Blue & White' flag flying high.”

Josephian 1st XI Captain in 2006/07, Rajeewa Weerasinghe expressed his thoughts with www.thepapare.com on his former team mates and on this gala night which will be a night to remember, “It is a great honour, privilege and a personal achievement for me to play with these 5 great cricketers. I have played with all five of them in different levels of cricket and they truly deserved to be acknowledged. This is the first Josephian awards night where all these 5 players will be recognized. I’m looking forward for a wonderful night.”

Exciting entertainment acts have also been planned to please the supporters of St. Joseph’s College cricket and stay tuned on www.thepapare.com for the live webcast of the awards night and for an exclusive coverage of the event. Finally, I quote my favourite phrase of the Josephian College anthem, “Harmonizing, strong and clear, White and Blue our mystic colours, ‘til the mountains disappear.”
 

St. Joseph’s College, Colombo has decided to felicitate and honour Angelo Mathews and his fellow Josephian teammates Thisara Perera and Dimuth Karunaratne along with bowling coach Chaminda Vaas for their exceptional and historic performance in England this year, where the Sri Lankan team emerged winners in all formats of the game, namely test, one day and T-20. They will also recognize young Sadeera Samarawickrama for his brilliance during the Under-19 cricketing season, for representing the country with distinction at the Under-19 World Cup in Dubai, and for being adjudged ‘Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year- 2014’.The felicitation ceremony will be held on the 15th of October 2014 at The Grand Ballroom, Waters Edge, Battaramulla from 7.30 p.m. to 11.30 p.m.

The parent union in Colombo, St. Peter's College – Old Boys' Union is an active group and acts as a catalyst in assisting Fr. Rector in more than one way. The Newsletter of April 2014, displays the progress made by the school in numerous areas of interest. The publication is named appropriately – Blue, White & Gold. It is a 16 page newsletter that contains a wealth of information about SPC-OBU, College Activities, Academics, Sport, etc. etc.

Please download the newsletter that is in pdf format and we are certain you will find the contents very absorbing and informative.

SPC-OBU NEWSLETTER APRIL 2014