Born in Karandeniya, a very small town in southern Sri Lanka, Ranjith Bandulahewa quite unlike many of his fellow countrymen with their well-established passion for the sport, didn’t become involved with cricket until he was well into his late thirties. Wanting to have his son play cricket was actually the stimulus for his initial involvement.
It was until he’d turned forty that he first tried his own hand at playing the game. Canada’s lowest level of Club cricket was, however, as far as his abilities as a player allowed him to progress.
Despite its inauspicious beginnings, Ranjith’s cricket involvement underwent a major transformation, not too long after he’d immigrated to Canada in 2005. Within his first five years of Canadian residency, by 2010, he’d witnessed an explosion of interest in cricket within the country fueled as it was by ever-increasing numbers of immigrants from South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and his own Sri Lanka.
As an astute businessman, Ranjith also recognized that with outdoors cricket in Canada being played only during the relatively short summer months, there was also a need for quality indoor facilities. An existing gap that could easily be filled through the provision of innovative driven facilities of the highest quality.
By 2013 Ranjith’s determination to personally fill that gap had resulted in his creation of the Unit 3 – 1780 Sismet Road Mississauga based SOFF Indoor Cricket Facility.
When SOFF opened in 2013, it was with the goal of sharing the wonderful game of cricket. Under Ranjith’s Owner management SOFF has moved towards this by offering a variety of services that appeal to all cricketers, from those who have not heard of the sport to the national level athletes that play for their respective countries.
In the beginning, the facility’s bread and butter was its lane
rentals. A simple solution for cricketers who wanted to
practice and play regardless of the weather or the time. Since
then, the facility’s play areas have been expanded to include
two separate lanes for bowling machines. The lanes have also
been modified so as to facilitate combinations.
SOFF’s lanes are of two different size dimensions. Regular lanes
of which there are now two, are 110 ft by 13ft. There are also
two long lanes each 130ft by 13ft. The lanes can be used for
cricket or baseball. Both weekly rentals or more permanent
bookings are available.
Bowling machines can also be added to any of the two long
lanes at an additional marginal cost. Batsmen can therefore get
a full batting experience without having to rely on bowlers.
Bowling machines give provide batters with the ability to face
up to 300 balls per hour, as much as an ODI innings! SOFF
Cricket has both automatic bowling machines and manual
bowling machines.
Lanes are a great option for friends to hang out with each
other while enjoying game of indoor cricket. Towards this
end SOFF Cricket offers four-lane rentals for individuals and
groups! Lane rentals can be booked on a weekly basis for
groups who want a set timeslot!
SOFF also began providing cricket equipment for sale which
has since grown into a fully fledged store which includes
all the major cricket equipment brands. The next step was
for the facility to offer services that take care of all the
headaches and inconveniences that come with the sport,
such as equipment rental, bat care, and bat knocking.
While continuing to offer the aforementioned services
above, SOFF’s management has placed importance on the
next generation of cricketers. They reach out to the schools
in their community and offer free sessions where classes
come in, learn the game through in-house coaches, and play
a fun game of indoor cricket.
With Ranjith at its helm, SOFF is always striving to further
its initial goal of sharing the sport of cricket with the
community. And while they have come a long way from the
20213 inception they are always finding ways to improve and
do more.
It was in his desire to do more that Ranjith Bandulahewa
conceived and developed the idea for this year’s staging
of the Inaugural Friendship Cup. Together with a few of
his closest associates namely, Hiren Chheda, Aayiz Abbasi,
Habeeda Bader, Anit Gupta, Ravinder Marwaha, Kannan
Rajagopal and Ankhur Khurana he created a not-for-profit
Canadian Foundation and set about putting in place all the
requirements for the 2022 Friendship Cup to be launched
this June.
Ranjith’s demonstrated competencies and abilities to get
things done, as evidenced by the creation of both SOFF
Indoor Facility and now recently the 2022 Friendship Cup,
will undoubtedly prove to be most valuable and appreciated
assets to Canadian cricket’s further development and
promotion