By A Special Correspondent

COLOMBO -Two Sri Lankan Under 16 national football stars, Mahith Perera of S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia and Maleeka Amith from Gateway College, Colombo have been selected by the Football Federation of Sri Lanka to the AFC-Aurora eGoal program from the South Asian zone.

The Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) Dream Asia Foundation, in partnership with Aurora – a youth development organization based in Jordan, specializing in creating and implementing community service programs for youth aged 16 -17 – offered the e-Goal program to the member associations in ASEAN, East, South and Central zones of its region. It will be conducted online and will run from October 5 to 23.

The eGoal program is to educate young players on the social and moral foundations of sports, equip them with the necessary skills to lead social change, and offer them a platform through which they can advocate for ethical and responsible football.

The first-of-its-kind program in world football brings together guest speakers from reputable social development organizations to deliver workshops on important topics such as Sport for Development and Peace, Sustainable Development Goals, Philanthropy in Football, Diversity and Inclusion, Safeguarding and Child Protection, Civic Engagement and Ethical Volunteering.

Both Mahith and Maleeka are multi-talented athletes who represented the Sri Lanka Under 16 national team at the SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) Championships and AFC Under 16 World Cup qualifiers and have a common idol – Barcelona and Argentina legend Lionel Messi.

“The program will teach us different skills in different areas when it comes to playing social, responsible football. It’s not just about playing on the field. It’s what you can do as a player off the field because when you are national player, we have more reach. We have more of a responsibility towards our country. What more we can do for our community and with our leadership skills and social skills in general, we have more reach towards people and more resources,” said Maleeka who has dreams of empowering youth of the country by becoming a sports psychologist.

She has been passionate about sports from a tender age displaying her talent in basketball, athletics and football where she blossomed into a creative midfielder.

“When I was in Grade 3 my first sport was basketball. When I went for my first practice, they said ‘You are pretty good, why don’t you join and get some experience’. Even when I started there were only five others of my age. We played in bigger age groups. I played as a striker when I started. Now I play in all three positions,” said Maleeka who is an ISAC (International Schools’ Athletic Championships) record holder in the 800 and 1,500 metres events.

“I like sports in general. It’s very interesting. It helps me a lot even in my studies. I can’t study without being active because otherwise I feel lethargic and lazy,” said Maleeka who captained her school team in basketball and studies Science subjects for her A/Ls.

Mahith’s hunger to score goals like his idol Lionel Messi, attracted him to football and has set his sights on turning professional in a sport which has become his passion although he is an equally good cricketer, rugby player and has College colours in athletics.

Mahith hails from a family with a sporting pedigree. His father Mahesh Perera captained S. Thomas’ in football while his elder brother Sakith is scrum half of the Thomian first XV rugby team.

“I got inspired after watching the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In my first year, I got into the Under 13 ‘A’ team and performed really well and scored goals in all the matches,” said Mahith who plays as a striker donning the No. 10 jersey.

“I just loved to play football,” said Mahith who leads from the front and showed leadership skills early in his career, captaining S. Thomas’ football team in all age groups from under 13 to 18.

In fact, he has captained S. Thomas’ under 15 team in football, rugby and cricket. He gained athletics colours being a member of the Thomian 4 x 400 metre relay team and coming fourth in the 800m in the All Island School Games.

A bundle of energy and tenacious on the field despite her slight frame, basketball and athletics has helped Maleeka’s endurance in football and to punch above her age and weight.

“For me when I stop and start, I find it very tiring. My main thing is to keep moving. From basketball and athletics, I get a lot of stamina. I do other fitness exercises like road running. During the lockdown it was very difficult. We had to come up with ways to keep ourselves fit,” said Maleeka who represented Sri Lanka at the SAFF Under 16 Championship in Bhutan and AFC women’s qualifiers at home in 2018.

President of the College Drama Club, which won the distanced All-Island Shakespeare competition, Maleeka is blessed with leadership and communication skills which make her an ideal candidate to become a Youth Ambassador of the eGoal program

“The main thing about sports is I just enjoy it. It helps me focus on everything else. Even in school we have lot of responsibilities. I just got Prefectship, House captaincy and lot of other things. At times when we are stressed, I go for practice. It helps me relax. I can do something that I am good at and can achieve as well,” said Maleeka.

“And in the future, I want to do sports psychology because when I was in the national team there was a lot that I felt we could benefit from, we didn’t have. The motivation for example because we didn’t win anything. The need to play as a team. It was difficult for us to communicate with each other because of the language and all that. Even when coaches select the main 11 players, there are whole lot of reserves who feel like they are not useful and they also feel down. One of the coaches was actually talking about sports psychology and saying there is not enough people who know what to do in Sri Lanka. I was thinking about it and I realized that I wanted to do this. I want to help my team and help other teams and other people who would I know benefit from this, even people who find it difficult to balance studies and sport. Through sports psychology there is a lot you can do,” said Maleeka who turned 17 last month.

“Even with this eGoal program, it gives me more of a pathway to achieve what I want to and with sports I get more experience because I’ve also been through this. First step is to help my school because I owe everything to my school,” she added.

A precociously talented sportsman, Mahith was also selected to the Sri Lanka Under 15 development squad and played inter-district matches. A middle order batsman and off spinner, he has a highest score of 122 not out and scored 300 runs in the first round of the under 16 tournament last year.

“Then I got selected to national (under 16) football team and could not continue,” said Mahith who represented the Sri Lanka Under 16 men’s team at the SAFF (South Asian Football Federation) Championship held in India and also the AFC Under 16 World Cup qualifiers in Jordan last year.

“We won one match against Bhutan 3-2 at the SAFF Championship where I gave two assists,” said Mahith proudly.

Finding the net is his main goal in football.

“I wanted to score goals. I got inspired by Lionel Messi. I wanted to be like him one day. I just want to make my family and my team proud,” said 15-year-old Mahith who can shoot with both feet having played as centre forward for his College and right wing for the national team.

“My plan in any sport is to play professional. I like to play football more because it’s fun to play unlike other sports. Football is a simple game. But I manage all three sports,” said Mahith whose academic goal is to become a businessman or lawyer.

“It is a very good opportunity for me to learn more things about football and getting the correct information about football. It is a proud moment for me and the College,” said Mahith on being selected for the eGoal program.

-ENCL