Excitement reigned as three nail-biting sets saw the under-12 volleyball team of Sri Wimala Buddhi MV, Seenigama clinch the ‘DSI Supersport All-Island Schools Mini Volleyball Tournament Championship 2008’ at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, Colombo on Friday 14th November.
 The jubilant Seenigama School volleyball team
and coach Thushara Mendis with their trophies
This victory is all the more meaningful as it is the first time the village school in Seenigama has won an islandwide tournament.
The Finals
It was a day wrought with much tension. Victory for the Sri Wimala Buddhi MV team didn’t come easy. The boys had to fight hard for success but were spurred on by a group of cheerers from the Foundation of Goodness (FoG) and some supporters, family members and friends from Seenigama.
 FoG Founder/Trustee Kushil Gunasekera
wishes the team well before the
commencement of the finals
Giving stiff competition to the Sri Wimala Buddhi MV team was the under-12 team from Thotagamuwa MV – another school from the area. This too was historic for this region – being the first time that two neighbouring village schools had entered the finals of an islandwide tournament.
 The volleyball finals in progress and
FoG sports academy staff members cheer the
Sri Wimala Buddhi team
At the end of the first set of finals the boys from Thotagamuwa MV were on top - winning it 13-15. But the Sri Wimala Buddhi MV team was not deterred. They fought back hard to level the match in the second set - taking it 15-12, much to the joy of all their supporters present. By this point, now that they were back in the match, the Sri Wimala Buddhi MV boys were more determined and more enthusiastic.
 Winning captain Manoj Buddika and
his deputy Sulakshitha
pose with their trophies after the game
In the last set of the finals the match evenly poised to swing in either direction with the scores level at 12-all, the noisy bunch of spectators were noticeably subdued. Yet the team from Sri Wimala Buddhi MV having tasted victory in the previous set were not about to give up. They fought a tough game to win 15-12 this islandwide schools’ tournament.
 A Seenigama-style ‘welcomes back & after party’
for the champion team
The winning team returned to Seenigama on the day itself to a pleasant surprise. A well earned welcome awaited them by the village that had followed live coverage of the match enthusiastically on television.
What a night of happiness it was – a far cry from the sorrow that was felt in these parts in the aftermath of the tsunami.
Seenigama has moved on to new heights, turning a setback into a blessing - an example of its spirit to stay positive and look ahead for better times.
Hard Work Pays Off
However sweet the taste of victory is, reaching the top is a bitter and arduous journey. The Sri Wimala Buddhi MV under-12 volleyball team had to work hard through each of the nine preliminary matches they played, before entering the final to win the tournament and the same goes with the neighbouring school Thotagamuwa MV.
 The outdoor volleyball court is a part of
the Seenigama Outdoor Sports & Activity Centre
Staying focused is one of the keys to success and Thushara Mendis, who coached the winning team, worked hard to ensure his boys stayed on track. He had worked with the team for a year in advance in preparation for this tournament. Their training got a boost when in August this year the ‘Seenigama Outdoor Sports and Training Centre’ was opened, comprising an outdoor volleyball court.
 The Sri Wimala Buddhi MV team
trains with their coach Thushara Mendis
Thushara Mendis along with the coach of the tournament runners-up Thotagamuwa MV T.H. Jayan have been retained to work with the two schools thanks to kind sponsors ‘Laureus Sport for Good Foundation’ that has been supporting the vision of the Foundation of Goodness (FoG). Laureus sponsored ‘training & developments camp’ in various sporting fields including volleyball, also benefited these two rural schools and helped them reach the finals of this islandwide tournament.
The Foundation of Goodness (FoG) has been supporting both these schools’ volleyball teams with their sporting equipment, nutrition and all other requirements via their sponsors, particularly Laureus Sports for Good Foundation, whose well-planned monthly sports project in the seven villages are yielding good results, such as this, for these boys and girls to excel.
Recently another benefactor - an Australian schools’ cricket coach Rod McCabe, seeing the teams play without proper footwear, gifted the boys new shoes at this timely moment, which perhaps no doubt, helped them enhance their performance.
The confidence and faith the kind donors and sponsors have had in the talent and capabilities of a rural village has been the biggest and best payoff, helping an impoverished and rural village to rise taller than the waves of destruction to victory.
The Founder/Trustee of the Foundation of Goodness (FoG) Kushil Gunasekera is proud and happy that time and generosity invested in the Seenigama children and youth, have paid off. “Owing to the magnanimous donors who made it possible with better opportunities, proper training, guidance, know-how and the ability to never give up which is most amazing as we harness the talent and skill of the rural sector.”
 Another famous duo in Seenigama
– Pulina & Amilalal
Along with the volleyball champs other sporting stars have brought home victory to Seenigama.
Ashan Pulina Tharanga is an exceptional cricketer who won the ‘under-15 most outstanding school boy cricketer runner up award’. This earned him a place on the Sri Lanka Under-15 Schools’ team that toured Malaysia in May this year and he once again visited Malaysia in October for a cricket training camp. Another youth who earned recognition for Seenigama is talented swimmer D.B.A.K. Amilalal Danushka who won the Sri Lanka Novices Aquatic Championship 50m free-style event conducted by the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union. He also came third in the 100m free-style event at the same meet. Following in their footsteps is Chameera Sandaruwan who was placed third in the 50m butterfly in a recent age-group aquatic championship.
 Two sponsored cricket grounds,
swimming facilities and cricket nets in Seenigama
These three talented youth and the volleyball team achieved success in their relative sporting fields thanks to the facilities provided by generous Sports Academy sponsors – Surrey County Cricket Club & Marylebone Cricket Club, Mr. Bryan Adams, Jersey Side by Side, New South Wales Cricket, Western Australian Cricket Association, Y’s Men International, Highgate School (UK), Mr. Harry Solomons of Kingsgrove Sports, Mr. David Cruse of Knoxx Restaurant (Melbourne), UNDP, Australian High Commission, Leeds Grammar School, Bankstown District Cricket Club, Mr. Sarath Vidanage (New Zealand), Area 20 Ladies Circle and Sri Lanka Cricket Association (Victoria) and the Prince of Wales 9/12th Lancers for monthly coaching camps.
With the Sports Academy now set up, the challenge at hand confronting the Foundation of Goodness (FoG) is funding to sustain this facility into the future, also so that the emerging sporting talent from Seenigama can be harnessed and taken to the next level.
“Great things are accomplished
by talented people
who believe they will accomplish them.”
- Warren G. Bennis
2008.11.17 |
