Coach Fernando conducts training programmes in three nations
Darshana Fernando
Renowned badminton coach, Darshana Fernando, who is based in Canada for decades, is currently on a coaching tour in the Asia Pacific region conducting training and coaching programmes in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Fernando made a brief stop in Colombo on his way to training project in the three countries, which has become an annual pilgrimage to the former alumni of St. Thomas’ College, Guruthalawa.
“This is a great honour for me, especially being badminton coach from Sri Lanka, to conduct training and programmes annually in those three countries, which is in the proximity of badminton powerhouses Indonesia and Malaysia. It was a personal invitation made to me by a renowned badminton stalwart from Singapore, who specifically noted that I posses rare skills of playing and teaching,” deeply touched of being able to take part in the annual programme, coach Fernando said.
Coach Fernando, who completed 50 years of involvement with the racquet sport, as a player, coach and promoter, in 2019, has been involved in a series of coaching camps around the globe since then. A former Sri Lankan national player, Fernando has earned a reputation as a professional badminton coach in Canada, mainly centred in Toronto. Known famously as Coach Fernando in Canada, he established his own world class coaching academy 15 years ago, which is famous as ‘Fernando’s Youth Badminton Academy’ today.
Fernando continues his playing career as a Master’s player at world and regional levels, and has been in impressive form throughout the years. His current assignment, the coaching programmes in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, which happened after a lapse of two years due to travel restriction caused by COVID-19, has been welcomed highly by the officials and participants of the programme from the three nations.
“The programme schedule was hectic, as opposed to what I thought. The interest among participants was higher than what I expected, which is impressive from a coach’s and instructor’s point of view. Any coach would willingly like to impart their knowhow to the next generation, if the interest to learn is at this level. I’m really happy that I was able to conduct these programmes to an appealing lot of participants,” Coach Fernando commented during his training programmes.
However, this was a tour that should have taken place in 2020, but was held back due to the outbreak of the pandemic.
Coach Fernando during one of his training programme in Oceania
“This is a series of programmes that was initiated in 2019, earlier I visited one country or two according to invitations. But now, since my visit to Chiang Mai in Thailand, this is growing as a series of training programmes in several countries. It was an honour to conduct a coaching programme for the members of the Cambodian national team during this tour,” Fernando added.
Fernando, a BWF qualified international coach, also has close links with the Badminton World Federation (BWF) while continuing to feature as a player in the Master’s category at international competitions. During his previous personals visit to Sri Lanka, Fernando conducted coaching camp at different centres including schools upon invitations.
“Badminton is at a growing stage in most countries and I am proud to be associated with some such countries to take the sport to the next level.I have worked hard towards getting certified in badminton coaching, updating myself with training methods and also visiting countries such as China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Denmark to learn the latest training methods in badminton coaching. I give the credit to Sri Lanka and for my gurus for teaching me the basics in badminton.”
Fernando will restart his annual coaching programmes in Canada from April, and in the meantime he is keen to spend some quality time in his native country before getting back to his busy schedule in Canada.