Strategically located amidst colleges, international schools and national sports associations, the Royal College Sports Complex is a jewel in the eyes of athletes everywhere.
The complex comprises of the outdoor rugby field (in which the famous Bradby Shield encounter takes place annually) and indoor facilities such as a basketball court, badminton courts, a volleyball court, squash courts, a netball court, a table tennis and a gymnasium.
Built at a cost of Rs 170 million, it is the end-result of the efforts by various Royal College Sports Complex Committees, (RCSCC) who have put a lot to build and maintain the facets of the complex since 1998.
The outdoor stadium facing the main pavilion is used for rugby, soccer, baseball and hockey while the indoor stadium provides international standard facilities for badminton, basketball, table tennis, volleyball, netball and boxing.
The Board of Management of the Royal College Sports Complex is a statutory committee of the Royal College Union appointed annually at the Union’s Annual General Meeting. The office bearers of the present committee (2020/21) are Chairman: Hiran Doranegama, Secretary: Kuda Herath and Treasurer: Hasrath Munasinghe. The committee also consists of 10 other members.
In 1996, three old boys of Royal, Mr. Kithsiri Almeida, Mr. Rohan Karunanayake and Mr. Janaka Edirisinghe sought an appointment with the Principal, Mr. S.K. Kumarasinghe. They requested the Principal’s approval to construct two squash courts. The Principal suggested it to be built on the land where the new rugby grounds and some tennis courts were located. This land had been allocated by the Government to Royal College on the 8th of April 1990, through the intervention of the President His Excellency J. R. Jayawardene.
Mr. Kumarasinghe granted permission for them to go ahead.
Kithsiri Almeida being an Architect, then came up with a brilliant idea. He suggested this would be a wonderful opportunity to construct a fully fledged Sports Complex for Royal College as sufficient land was available in the new rugby grounds for that purpose.
His idea was accepted by the Royal College Union and after much deliberation and many meetings of several sub-committees, in 1998, Mr. H.L.B. Gomes, who had succeeded Mr. Kumarasinghe as principal approved the appointment of a special committee of the Royal College Union to begin construction of the Sports Complex. The dynamic corporate leader and sports personality, Mr. Hemaka Amarasooriya was picked as the Chairman of the committee.
Royal College Sports Complex Original Committee (1998-2001)
| Principal | - | Royal College, Mr.H.L.B. Gomes |
| Chairman | - | Mr. Hemaka Amarasooriya |
| Secretary | - | Capt. Ajith Pieris |
| Treasurer | - | Mr. Thanula Wijewardana |
| Mr. Kithsiri Almeida (Project Architect) | ||
| Mr. Sugi Rajarathnam (Structural Engineer) | ||
| Mr. M. Abeygunawardena | ||
| Mr. C.W. Abhayaratne | ||
| Mr. A. Anderson | ||
| Mr. R.J. de Silva | ||
| Mr. J.K. Fernando | ||
| Mr. Tissa Guneratne | ||
| Mr. S. Guruge | ||
| Mr. R. Karunanayake | ||
| Mr. T. Mirando | ||
| Mr. C. Perera | ||
| Mr. A.Sathuk | ||
| Mr. R.L. Senanayake | ||
| Dr. H.S.D. Soysa | ||
| Dr. C. Thurairajah |
Mr. Mahen Perera. the Secretary of the Royal College Union during this period was instrumental in ensuring that this great project got the maximum assistance from the Union and the old boys fraternity for a successful completion.
The foundation stone was laid on the 27th of May 1999 and the Sports Complex was opened on the 10th of May 2001 by the Sports Minister, Hon. Lakshman Kiriella.
This Sports Complex, comprises a modern Gymnasium, five badminton courts with tiered seating to accommodate 250 spectators, a squash court with seating for 150 spectators, a multipurpose sports hall (can accommodate over 500 spectators) which can be used for Basketball, Table Tennis, Boxing and Volleyball. The re-constructed outdoor turf is used for Rugby Football, Soccer and Hockey and has seating facilities for 2,000 spectators with a further 4,000 on the terraces.
Since 2001, the Colombo legs of the Bradby Shield rugby encounter and many other iconic rugby encounters have been played at this venue.
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