When St. Eugene De Mazenod generously sent out his missionaries to Sri Lanka in 1847, their primary goal was education of the poorest of the poor.
So they established leading education institutes in the country like St. Joseph’s and De Mazenod in the West, St. Patrick’s and St. Henry’s in the North and St. Michael’s and St. Joseph’s in the East. Later as the Oblates concentrated more on the West and North, the Jesuits took care of the East and South. The early Rectors of St. Michael’s, Batticaloa were French Jesuits. In the 1940s American Jesuits arrived at St. Michael’s and with them came the game of basketball.
It was Rev. Fr. Hamilton (SJ) who fixed the first basket at St. Michael’s and with the arrival of Rev. Fr. Ralph Rieman (SJ) in the 1950s basketball took off. In 1963 Rev. Fr. Rieman was transferred and Rev. Fr. Joe Nee (SJ) took over the coaching duties.
Rev. E.J. Hebert (SJ) was a ‘Jack of all Trades’. He was working in Trincomalee having arrived in Sri Lanka in 1955. He was transferred to St. Michael’s, Batticaloa in 1971. The rest, as they say, is history.
Eugene John Hebert was born in 1923 to an aristocratic family in the state of Louisiana, USA. He chose to join the Jesuits, Catholic church’s largest and most influential religious group at the age of 17. He was ordained a priest in 1954 and a year later he volunteered for the mission of Ceylon.
Up until Fr. Hebert’s arrival in Batticaloa, the game of basketball was dominated by the Colombo schools, but he formed a champion outfit that dominated the game in the 1970s and 1980s.
Fr. Hebert’s coaching mantra was simple, but carried a big message. “Size didn’t matter, shoes didn’t matter, and even raw talent didn’t matter. What mattered was an unrelenting desire to succeed,” he used to say.
He used to also mention frequently, “Had there been extra room on the tablets for an 11th commandment, it would have been; Persevere, no matter the odds.”
Fr. Hebert drilled the fundamentals of the game into players at a young age. Good fundamentals were as the bedrock of the Michaelite basketball. That gave them an edge over their rivals. With latest resources on the game readily available thanks to Fr. Hebert’s friends and family in the US, the boys of St. Michael’s were fortunate. Latest technology in basketball whether it be technical inputs on the game or novel instruments, they arrived in Batticaloa earlier than they did anywhere else in the Island.
The hard life style in Batticaloa due to the war had already toughened up the children of St. Michael’s. With Fr. Hebert sharpening their skills in basketball, the boys were unstoppable. St. Michael’s were the masters of fast break and they were hard to contain. The geographical factors also stood in good stead for them. Having spent hours improving their skills in the boiling Batticaloa, coming to Colombo and performing in a milder temperature was child’s play for them.
“Fr. Hebert cared for his players. He saw basketball as a means that would shape young individuals into successful people. He used to come to Colombo for matches and stayed at St. Benedict’s in Kotahena. I was at St. Benedict’s at that time and we would offer him to stay at the Brothers’ quarters, but he would turn down the offer. He wanted to be with his players and spent time in the class room. He was such an exemplary person,” Rev. Br. Placidus Fernando (FSC) recalled.
“The year 1971 to 1990 was the golden era of basketball at St. Michael’s under the guidance of Fr. Hebert. He would travel with the team, reside with them, eat with them. At no stage would he allow the team to be alone,” Senior DIG Ignatius Kanagaratnam said.
Apart from winning many age group titles, under Fr. Hebert’s guidance, Batticaloa District was also able to win the Junior National title for three consecutive years in 1986, 1987 and 1988, an unbroken record.
What happened to Fr. Hebert remains a mystery to date. On August 15th, 1990, Fr. Hebert was informed of a conflict among the Tamils and Muslims in Erraur, 30 kilometers from Batticaloa.
He got on to his motorbike and drove to Erraur to make peace. His efforts were successful and violence was avoided. But on his way back home, he disappeared and hasn’t been seen or heard of since. He is presumed dead and the locals view him as a martyr.
Fr. Hebert may be long gone, but his memories are still fresh.
Due to excellence in basketball, many from St. Michael’s were able to find employment in leading mercantile firms, tri-forces and Police. Even the current national champions Air Force have three players from St. Michael’s Batticaloa.
Batticaloa has a culture of its own when it comes to basketball. It’s a pity to see that some of the big finals in Colombo being played in front of empty stadia. But you’ve got a full house in Batticaloa for games. This year’s final of the Fr. Hebert Cup was played between Sri Lanka Army and Sri Lanka Air Force. With the hosts not making it to the finals, it was natural to expect a poor turnout, but the enthusiasm among the fans didn’t diminish as they turned up in numbers.
Batticaloa is also the only place in the country where people have to buy a ticket to watch the game. It’s something totally alien for those of us from Colombo.
Last weekend, the cream of Sri Lankan basketball headed to Batticaloa for the sixth edition of Fr. Hebert Cup. Seven teams participated in the competition. Air Force won the event. It was an occasion to remember the contributions of Fr. Hebert to Sri Lankan basketball. If they were to choose the most influential person in Sri Lankan basketball, the American Jesuit priest would emerge a front runner.
Someone should take efforts to get Fr. Hebert’s name inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
