The Sri Lanka Basketball Federation appointed Founder and Managing Director of JAT Holdings as elected President uncontested at the recent Special General Meeting conducted virtually. In his acceptance speech, Mr Gunawardene pledged for good governance and a home-court for Basketball as key priorities for Sri Lanka. As new president-elect, Mr Gunawardene assured of his commitment to work diligently in prioritizing and executing the goals already defined and agreed upon whilst requesting support from all the stakeholders of basketball.
Amongst other initiatives, he stressed the importance to sign a code of conduct and to establish a communication protocol. Moreover, he elaborated on the importance of good physio and mental training coaches, as well as the importance of hiring a foreign coach cum Technical Director to enable the improvement of the system whilst focusing on the strengths of Sri Lankan players. Additionally, he reiterated the importance of infusing technology with Basketball through technologies such as Data Analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT), visuals etc and explained that initial discussions have already begun.
One of the finest products of S. Thomas’ College, Aelian excelled in various sporting disciplines including rugby and athletics. As the Founder and Managing Director – JAT Holdings PLC and was the driving force behind JAT’s transformation including the corporate culture which instils the importance of sportsmanship and sports sponsorships which have led to JAT Holdings sponsoring various sporting events from the Sri Lankan national cricket team, rugby to tennis to name a few.