Cheers to 10 years of the Calistus Trophy

The University of Peradeniya is a world-class institution of higher education that offers its students a demanding academic program, a thriving research environment, and an excellent student life experience connecting with people from various other cultures. The Mahaweli River flows nearby, and the campus is surrounded by lush greenery, providing students with the peace and quiet they need to study, chill, and enjoy their university experience. Considering the vibrant student life, the university has a wide variety of extracurricular activities, including sports, music, drama, and debating.

Concerning sports, some are held annually for Tamil Engineering undergraduates of the University of Peradeniya, such as the Calistus Memorial Cricket Trophy, Sujeevan Memorial Volleyball Trophy, Jeyanthan Trophy, and Clash of Brotherhood Football Championship, which contribute to the promotion of mental and physical health, socialising, and personal development, as well as to the enjoyment and entertainment of both individuals and communities.

Digging deeper into The Calistus Trophy

The Calistus Trophy is one of the yearly cricket tournaments for Tamil undergraduates from the Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya, founded by E08 students in memory of Mr Anton Yogaraja Calistus Kajendran from batch E07, who passed away in 2010 during his university life. Although he left early, his university brothers and sisters will always remember him in this way every year.

Let’s explore history! Although the first competition was held during the day, Prof. Roshan G. Ragel, the Head of Computer Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya, was the driving force behind moving the competition under lights for the second and subsequent rounds. He has since made every effort, together with Dr S.K. Navaratnarajah, a Senior Lecturer of the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Peradeniya, to ensure the tournament's continuation.

In the first tournament held in the year 2011, teams 08A and 08B advanced to the finals. As every first is special, this is the only instance in which two teams from the same batch have reached the final. The playoffs and lighting wickets were first introduced by the E13 batch in 2019, and the E16 batch followed them in 2022. E16 broke the first-year curse in 2019 by becoming the first team to win the trophy as first-years. Nonetheless, the Calistus Memorial Trophy has yet to be won by a final-year squad. Unfortunately, a pause in the progression was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and other circumstances, and the 9th Memorial Trophy, which was organised by E14, only reached the league stages.

Where are we now?

Following a three-year hiatus, the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Calistus Memorial Cricket Trophy happened in 2022, with the assistance and encouragement of the E16 brothers and sisters, who were the only ones present when the last Calistus Trophy match took place before the break. Despite several ups and downs, challenges, and difficulties, marking a decade is a huge success.

The tournament kicked off on the 7th of December, 2022, with two teams from each of the four batches (E16, E17, E18, and E19) and was whittled down to four teams for the final battle following B-League and Super Six League matches at the Peradeniya Campus ground. This time, every A team from each of the four batches made it to the final day with the expectation of winning the crown.

It’s time to rewrite history! The grand finale of the 10th Calistus Trophy arrived on the 21st of January, 2023 starting with the opening ceremony. The captain of the defending champions, team 16 A, handed the Calistus Trophy on behalf of the players and the audience. Everyone's attention was drawn to the trophy, and they expressed how seriously and eagerly they wanted to win it and proclaim themselves the Calistus 2022 champions.

The chief guest, Dr S.K. Navaratnarajah, expressed his happiness at the occasion and his thoughts on the event, including how it has continued without coming to an end. "The assistance given by the senior batch students can be witnessed over the years, and this should continue in the future as well for the continuity of the event," he added.

Furthermore, the Calistus Memorial Coin was launched to celebrate the tenth anniversary on behalf of the special guests, Mr Calistus' parents, and this is the first-ever Calistus tournament in which participants have used their own coin. Moreover this time, E16 introduced an LED scoreboard that showcases their innovative and creative thoughts. During the play, teams 17A and 18A advanced to the final battle after competing in Qualifier 1, Eliminator, and Qualifier 2 matches.

Athletes must understand and practice sportsmanship if they want to maximise their sporting endeavours. Overall, the players' sportsmanship was quite noticeable when they were battling, which promotes respect, develops character, fosters a positive environment, and improves performance, making it substantially better than before.

In the most recent Calistus Memorial Trophy results, 10, 12, 14, and 16 are the patterns of champions. Will the trend continue with 18 A's victory, or can 17 A break the odd-year curse and win the Calistus Trophy as it has been almost ten years since an odd-year batch did? The one question on everyone's mind is, “Which team will claim the throne?”

"The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team," according to the American former professional basketball player, Phil Jackson. From the start of the event to the end, players received great team support in an effort to foster unity, promote collaboration, and achieve success as a team. Finally, the trend of even-year champions for the Calistus Memorial Cricket Trophy was preserved in 2022 as well. The 18 A ultimately won the 10th Calistus Trophy, and the 17 A ended as runners-up.

The night match lasted until the following morning and was concluded by the award ceremony. By the time it was all through, each and every one of them had expressed various emotions. Yet, everyone who participated adhered to the motto "Win or lose, be a good sport" and joined forces once more as brothers and sisters. No matter what challenges arose throughout the tournament, the players, teams, and supporters remained focused on their objectives. Despite the rain, cold, and trying conditions, they showed their commitment throughout the play.

The chief guest, Prof. Roshan G. Ragel, expressed his delight and satisfaction with the event at the gathering. He further emphasised the need for publicising the success of such events since it is crucial to remove the misconception that the University of Peradeniya is recognised for unpleasant events. "Even when we do good deeds like this, they don't really reach out to the outer world, so we should start working on them right away," added Prof. Ragel.

And yet, this is just one of many tournaments to showcase the good sportsmanship of the Tamil Engineering undergraduates of the University of Peradeniya. The Sujeevan Memorial Volleyball Trophy, which was established in 2010, continued this year as well. While participating and playing aggressively, all four batches maintained their sportsmanship, which was encouraging to see. Team E18 won the volleyball match and displayed a variety of motivation and dedication.

The Clash of Brotherhood Football Championship, a competitive inter-batch football tournament that began in 2017, was also a tremendous success this year. This time, Team E16 won after dedicating a great deal of work and effort, and it paid off in the end.

Furthermore, the first-ever women's badminton competition was also staged this year in an effort to inspire girls to play sports and foster a sense of community among female participants.

Even though it was their first time, the girls' fair play and teamwork were admirable to observe. A new chapter in history was begun as Team E18 established itself as the first-ever champions. Since the foundation was strengthened this year, the effort will be a genuine success, and any mistakes made this time around will be successfully fixed in the future.

It takes a lot of effort, time, and attention to arrange a tournament. It is crucial to have a committed team that can work together, communicate well, and adjust to changing conditions. The organising committee kept the slogan "ItzE16'sEndGame," worked much harder than anticipated, and despite the fact that we are aware of how difficult it is to organise all of the tournaments mentioned above, the team gained knowledge from the experience of proper planning and execution to make it memorable. Moreover, the committee handed the subsequent batch the responsibility to carry on from where it left off and advance to higher levels.

"Success is not final; failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts," said Winston S. Churchill. Another achievement in the glorious success tale and anticipating expanding the tournament to include many matches in the future in order to achieve even greater heights and achievements while highlighting the athletic prowess of the undergraduates.

Vithurshini Subramanieam
Third year,
Department of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, 
University of Peradeniya.