\”The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory.\”
Any person, be it an adult or a kid, is familiar with the game,\”Elle\”. This is a special game in Sri Lanka which became quite popular within the country around the 20th century. Yet there is no exact time or a particular person who is first affiliated with this game. Some people believe it to be a game that originated in South India as \”Elle\” is a word of the South Indian vocabulary and some believe that its birthplace is in Sri Lanka. However, it has become a prominent game that is played in schools and universities around the country. The play has no distinction, meaning that it is played by children, adults, male, female and people from both village and metropolitan areas.
Elle is a game of bat and ball. At first glance this may look pretty much similar to Baseball but Elle has its own unique method of play. It includes a hitter (the one who bats), a pitcher (the one who balls) and the fielders. Usually, the hitter has three chances to hit the ball. The hitter must complete a round of run which has four \”stoppings\” spaced 55 metres (180 ft) apart. It is a strikeout if the hitter\’s ball is caught by the fielding side or if the fielding side is able to hit the hitter with the ball while the hitter is in the course of completing a run. The hitter can stop only at one of the three stoppings in the round thereby giving the opportunity to another member of his or her team to come and become the hitter. The side that gets the highest number of runs wins the match.
There are sixteen players in a team. Striking or fielding is decided by the toss of a coin. Around 1946, Reginold Kabral formulated the rules and regulations of Elle. Regi Rodrigo introduced a flag, a dress code and scoring system for the referee. I. V. M. Wankus is the first president and Sena Gunasekara is the first secretary of the Sri Lankan Elle Association. The Elle Federation was registered in the country in 1976.
The Elle team of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura has a history of memorable victories as the players have been able to shine through countless number of events and competitions throughout the years. There is a men\’s team and a women\’s team thereby giving an equal representation to both genders. Looking back through the years, the Elle team has been able to snatch the winnings of many Sri Lanka University Games (SLUG) Competitions.
In the 2010 SLUG competitions, the boys\’ team became the champions. Also, in the 2015 and 2016 Inter-University Games, the team became the 2nd runner- up under the captain, Y. M. D. C. Ekanayaka and Vice Captain, Janath Umayantha. In the Inter-University Games 2017, they became the runner- up. In the years that followed, their dedication and exertion was immense which brought them the championships in both the 2018 Inter-University Games and SLUG 2019. The SLUG team 2019 was lead by captain, M.M.H.J. Madurasingha and vice captain, M.G.C. Niroshan and D.G.B.M.K.L. Dasanayaka became the best player in the SLUG 2019.
The girls\’ team has been able to sweep away some trophies at SLUG just like their male counterparts. In SLUG 2013, they became the runner- up. A.A.T Jayakanthi became the best player that year and the team was lead by captain ,S.M. Dilrukshi and vice captain G.K.I.D Botheju. In Inter-University Games 2014, they became the runner- up and in that of 2015 they became the 2nd runner- up. In SLUG 2016, they managed to heave themselves up to the 4th place under captain, U.P.N. Kumari and vice captain, Piyumi Madushani. The best player award was also given to U.P.N. Kumari that year. In 2017 once again they became the runner-up and in 2018 and in 2019 they were qualified to the quarter finals. The team was lead by captain, S.M.N.S. Bandara and vice captain, P.D.T Vidushani and S.M.N.S Bandara became the best player in SLUG 2019.
All of above marks the achievements of the J\’pura Elle team to date. They still have a long way ahead of them and being steadfast and potent players with competency, it is, undoubtedly, a fact that they will be bring more trophies of victory to the university and to them as well. With the true team spirit, they shall forever hold the university name on the top of the champions\’ list and they will be a part of the eternal emblem of the university which shines with pride.
Article Written by : Ruth Fernando
Graphic Designed by : Jithmi Rajapaksha